


Blood Water

by Amethyst_Maze



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Albus Dumbledore, Good Death Eaters, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied Mpreg, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley Bashing, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Mpreg, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sane Tom Riddle, Sane Voldemort (Harry Potter), Severitus | Severus Snape is Harry Potter's Parent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:42:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25355704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amethyst_Maze/pseuds/Amethyst_Maze
Summary: (AU) After the events of Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry received an anonymous package containing a vial of disturbing memories. His eyes opened to the betrayal and manipulation that surrounded him since his birth, Harry sets out to unveil the lies and discover the truth of his heritage. With his mind and magic free of the chains that surround him, he dabbles into 'Dark" magic and forms another side to the brewing war- his own.With help from an unknown being, the future of Magical Britain is thrown into chaos and uncertainty.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Comments: 112
Kudos: 467





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So in this story, let's just say that Albus told Harry about The Order by the end of POA and let the Trio attend order meetings, you know, for the greater good and also that's where the AU comes in.  
> It makes the story move more freely for my plot so... *laughs nervously*  
> Anyway, I hope you guys still give this story a try.

Harry inhaled deeply as he was shoved out of the memory. He took heaving gasps as he tried to take in the information from the pensieve; information that Dumbledore had hidden from him.  
His knees buckled and he dropped to the ground, still in shock.  
He needed to rethink this. He needed to rethink alliances, the truths, the lies, his allegiance, his identity- everything!  
He collected his thoughts with a deep breath and slowly stood up. He gritted his teeth and wordlessly vanished the pensieve after recollecting the memory into a vial.  
Whoever sent him the vial probably has more information about all of this. And he vowed to find out who sent him the memory and find out the truth.  
For now, it was back to acting as the Light’s Golden Boy.  
It wouldn’t do him any good to be found out this early, wouldn’t it?

Something was off with the Potter boy.  
He felt it as soon as the boy entered the meeting room. Instead of the usual cluelessness to the boy, there was a certain aura of confidence, a knowing glow to his façade. His usual stoic mask gave way to a little narrowing of his eyes as the boy sat down silently. The boy must have felt eyes on him as he turned and emerald green eyes locked eyes with his own. A miniscule nod was thrown in his way which he returned with a single raised eyebrow. The Potter boy subtly shrugged his shoulder and turned towards his friends.  
Now he knew for sure something certainly was off with the Potter boy.  
The boy did not do subtle.  
What he did was charge blindly at whatever idiotic plan he and his little group concocted.  
The bull-headed Gryffindor Courage clear as day through his spontaneous escapades.  
The door to the meeting room burst open and in sauntered Black with Lupin on his trail, both lighting up at the sight of the Potter boy who rushed towards them with a big goofy smile on his face.  
Albus cleared his throat and everyone settled down to start the meeting.  
He pushed the bizarre encounter to the back of his mind and focused his attention to the old man’s jabbering.

Meanwhile at a desolate far corner of the world, a lone man standing at the entrance of a cave closed his eyes as he felt the magic from the memory he sent settle inside the recipient.  
His plan was working flawlessly- for now.  
He eyed the dark cave entrance with a grimace.  
What was he thinking?  
He must’ve been really out of his mind.  
Who could blame him though, with all the compulsion, memory altering and mind blocking spells the old coot had cast on him-  
He basically was insane for almost half his life.  
No matter though, now that he’s back to normal, well as normal as he can get; it was time to make things right.  
With a deep breath, he muttered a low ‘Lumos’ and advanced into the cave.


	2. Overflow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So this chapter will shed some light on Harry's 'situation'. And a little sneak peek into his mind.   
> Enjoy guys!

Harry laid on his bed, waiting for the house to finally settle down in silence. He stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander until Ron’s snore softly started. He slowly sat up in bed as he waited for the snores to grow louder, indicating his friend’s descent into deep sleep. As soon as he deemed the snores loud enough to both cover his steps and the door’s closing and opening, he was out the room and padding down the stairs silently.

He squinted into the darkness, making sure that the curtains covered Walburga Black’s blasted screeching portrait. It wouldn’t do him any good if the portrait caught him and screeched the whole house awake. Finding the curtain in place, he walked towards the door, steps quickening as his exit loomed closer.

“Going somewhere, Harry?”

It was only the years of abuse he suffered from the Dursleys, and their hate of any noise from him during his punishments, that kept Harry from screaming bloody murder as he whirled around to stare wide eyed into the dark.

“Sirius!” he whispered breathlessly with a hand on top of his chest, lightly patting to calm the pounding of his heart.

Sirius emerged from the dark with an amused grin on his lips.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at him. “Shouldn’t that be my question? Seeing as you’re heading straight for the door.”

“I… just need to do something…important…”

“At 3 in the morning?”

Harry shrugged looking down at his shoes.

Sirius looked at him for a few seconds making Harry fidget under his Godfather’s stare.

Sirius let out a sigh before laying a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Just be careful, alright pup?”

Harry whipped his head up to look at Sirius. “R-Really? I mean- yeah… thanks Sirius. I just- really need to do this.”

Sirius gave his shoulder a squeeze before letting go. He nodded and motioned towards the door. “Go. Try to be back before the others wake up for breakfast, or brunch-whatever. Ill hold the off for as long as I can until you’re back.”

Harry gave him a wide grin and silently but quickly flew out the door.

His mind whirred as he planned out his day. First off though, he needed to get to Gringotts.

With apparition out of the question, he raised his wand hand and waited for the Knight Bus.

After being dropped off at The Leaky Cauldron, Harry raised his hood over his head, letting the oversized cloth cover half of his face. Walking in and sitting on a stool at the counter he raised his head and ordered a butterbeer from Tom. Without fussing over Harry, he silently handed him the drink with a small nod of his head.

Harry sipped at his drink slowly as he waited for an appropriate time to head to Gringotts. As the mysterious memory sender seemed to imply, that was the best place to start his research as the goblins were more or less neutral in the war- and they hold most if not all of the wills, records and money from even the oldest and newest magical families in Wizarding Britain.

If anyone had information about the truth of his birth- it certainly would be the goblins.

And if he could help Sirius out with one thing or another then how can he say no to that?

Harry stepped through Gringotts golden doors and headed straight to a vacant teller.

He waited as the goblin finished up with the letter they were reading before stating his intentions

“Good day. May your gold ever overflow Master Goblin. I am Harry Potter and I wish to talk to someone in charge of the Potter finances.”, he greeted respectfully with a small bow of his head.

The goblin looked at him first with shock quickly followed by interest.

It seemed so long ago that any wizard paid them the proper respect they were owed.

With a grin full of sharp teeth, he bowed his head at Harry and replied, “And may your enemies tremble before you.” He stepped down the counter and motioned for Harry to follow him off to the side.

“My name is Rookshank Mr. Potter. If you would follow me, I believe Griphook should have been alerted as soon as you mentioned the Potter finances. Your transaction may require a… private meeting room.”

Harry nodded as he followed the goblin to a small room with a small desk, two chairs and a fireplace lit with a small fire. He sat down when Rookshank motioned at the seats and a few moments later another goblin entered through the door and strode quickly to the desk.

Greeting the new goblin, the same way he greeted Rookshank earlier they finally settled down.

“Mr. Potter, to what do I owe the pleasure of having your company? I was informed by your magical guardian that all transactions to your vault and wills be sealed and only accessed by him alone until your emancipation in the wizarding world. It has come as a shock as soon as the wards warned me of your requests.”

“What magical guardian?”, he asked with a furrowed eyebrow.

The two goblins shared a look before Griphook answered.

“Your… magical guardian Mr. Potter, the one you mentioned in your letter to access your vault your first year. That was how you had access to your vault that time. As well as a few more times after that.”

“Where is this so-called letter? I don’t recall having written any letter to anyone about accessing vaults that even I don’t have any knowledge about!”

Griphook shuffled a few documents before handing Harry a bunch of letters.

Opening one and quickly skimming through it, he opened another and this time narrowed his eyes at the contents.

“This one says that I have recently transferred three thousand galleons to the Weasley Family Vault. It also states that roughly two hundred galleons have been withdrawn and placed into a trust vault for each Weasley child since the end of my second year.” Harry looked up at the goblins with confusion and anger. “I have never authorized nor wrote this letter.”

Griphook looked through his files and handed Harry another letter, this one with a familiar handwriting scrawled in the front of the envelope. “This one Mr. Potter comes from your Magical Guardian – “

“Albus Dumbledore.” Harry gritted out through clenched teeth. Opening the letter, Harry slowly read the contents.

_To Gringotts Wizarding Bank,_

_As legal magical guardian to one Harry James Potter, I hereby attach an approval from my charge that any and all access to his vaults will solely be handed over to me until my charge reaches adulthood in the Wizarding World. Permission has also been given that throughout the school years, appropriate monies shall be withdrawn to provide for the Weasley family with an additional amount of two hundred galleons to be given to each of the Weasley children as compensation for their continuous companionship to my charge._

_Signed,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Chief Warlock_

_Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards_

A small parchment was attached to the letter that Harry assumed was the aforementioned ‘approval’ that he apparently gave to the old coot.

“I trust that according to your reactions Mr. Potter that there is no truth to the following statements?”

Harry threw the letters back down the desk and sighed.

“I want it nulled. I want every single seal that the old coot has set on my accounts broken. I want every single penny that was taken from my vaults back where they belong!”

A predatory smile came over both the goblins.

“I believe Mr. Potter that there are additional charges, interest if I may say, that can be fined to those who have illegally taken from your vaults.”

Harry nodded. “I actually don’t care about the money. I just want them to pay for deceiving me. I want all of them to pay.”

Griphook nodded and handed Harry a blank sheet of parchment along with a small sharp dagger.

“To ensure your identity Mr. Potter, I would like a few drops of your blood on this parchment. I must say that this is an oversight on our part regarding those letters. As such, we would like to offer you a small percentage less of this transaction’s payment.”

Harry shook his head as he took the dagger and formed a light cut on his finger.

“No, charge me in full. Just make sure that whoever has tampered with my vaults and accounts will be taken care of and I’ll give you extra by the end of it.”

He let three drops of his blood land on the parchment.

Griphook took the parchment still with the wide toothy grin on his face. “Thank you for your generosity Mr. Potter. We can assure you that we at Gringotts will-“

Harry looked up as Griphook trailed off, eyes quickly roving the parchment in his hands.

“Griphook?”

The goblin coughed before slowly handing Harry the parchment. “It seems Mr. Potter that there are more surprises in store for you.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked before looking down at the parchment.

**Name: Haris Orion Black**

**Sire: Heir Lord Sirius Orion Black (Azkaban escapee, innocent)**

**Bearer: Heir Lord Severus Prince**

**Godfather: Lucius Abraxas Malfoy**

**Godmother: Narcissa Malfoy nee Black**

**Adopted Father: James Fleamont Potter (forced)**

**Adopted Mother: Lily Jane Potter nee Evans (forced)**

**Magical Guardian (illegal): Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore**

**Magical enchantments:**

**Haris Orion Block**

**Magical seal- 1 year old**

**Core Altering- 1 year old**

**Compulsion spells- 11 years old**

**Submission spells-11 years old**

**Magical Blocker- 11 years old**

**Core Dampening- 11 years old**

**Seals and blockers performed by one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.**

By the end of the parchment Harry’s eyes were wide and glistening with anger, his teeth gritted and hands clenched tightly.

His whole body shook with anger. The whole room shook with his anger.

“That… **old fool!** ”

A few lamps around the room shattered as he growled out the last word, his magic reacting to his anger.

“How could this be?! I… I’m not a Potter? Sirius… Sirius is not my… he… he’s actually my father?! And Snape… Snape is…” he muttered as he fell back against his seat, too shocked to hold himself up.

His chest heaved as he processed the information.

It was a lie.

Everything was a lie.

His whole self was a lie.

“I want to see their wills.”

Griphook looked at him with confusion. “Wills? Mr. Po-Black?”

“My paren- James and Lily Potters’ wills. There must be… there must be something in there- anything that can explain all this!”

The goblin nodded and tapped at the parchment with one long clawed finger.

With a slight widening of his eyes, he tapped at the parchment again.

He stared down at the parchment and leaned back.

“I’m afraid Mr. Black that I have no wills to give to you.”

“What? What do you mean there are no wills? Has Dumbledore sealed them away?”

Griphook shook his head and turned the parchment around, sliding it over to Harry.

“For their will to be present, both parties should be dead.” He paused before continuing, “It appears Mr. Black that both James and Lily Potter are alive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger! I know the start seems to be a little drawn out I think, but I needed to explain a few things before I go into the story proper. It's also a little introduction to what's going to happen in the future chapters. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> See you next update!


	3. Greed

Harry felt for the portkey in his pocket as he entered Grimmauld silently, wary even now of Walburga’s portrait. He remembered the goblins' words earlier, that he must take Sirius to them immediately. It would work better and faster for the two of them that way. For Sirius to claim his Lordship and for both of their seals to be broken. The goblins told him that his original looks must have been sealed along the same time his core was blocked. Not to mention the illegal blood adoption the Potters did also altered his looks.   
It would make Sirius believe faster if he looked more like him than the Potters.   
His thoughts were a whirlwind inside his mind, bouncing off his brain with the suddenness and depth of everything he’s discovered. Although the goblins assured him, they could pinpoint his paren- the Potters whereabouts, it still would take them some time to sift through a myriad of concealment charms that no doubt were hiding the Potters.  
He climbed up the stairs, eager and apprehensive to see Sirius- or should he call him dad now? This is too confusing. Basically, everything he ever knew about himself the past decade was uprooted out of him in one single day. No matter though, he was finally going to have his family.  
Someone he can call his own.  
The problem though was Snape.  
His bearer.  
He wondered how he could get Snape to Gringotts with him. No doubt the man will reject and resist every step of the way.  
He raised his hands to knock but the door swung open even before his hand could touch the wood.   
"Welcome back, pup. "  
Harry let out a grin and followed Sirius inside the room, raising an eyebrow when Sirius immediately set up silencing and locking charms around the room.   
Sirius shrugged and sat on the bed. "Whatever you went out for in the wee hours of the morning must be very important if you came to see me after your trip. So, spill. "  
Hardy shook his head and sat beside Sirius. "I can't explain it here. Better yet, whatever I want to tell you is better of shown than told. "   
Sirius nodded.   
"I need you to come with me to Gringotts. They can explain it better and all the proofs are right there. "  
"Hate to break it to you pup but, escaped convict -" he pointed to himself. "Might be hard to walk over to Gringotts."  
Harry took out a galleon from his pocket. "That's why the goblins gave me a portkey. It’ll bring us directly to one of their meeting rooms. "  
Sirius’s eyes widened as he stared at the portkey. Having grown up in a magical Pureblood family, he knows that the goblins don’t just carelessly hand out portkeys. Whatever Harry needed to tell him must be important enough to warrant one of the goblins’ rare portkeys.

“Alright, when is it due to go off?”

“We can go now actually. The goblins spelled it to go off once I say the password.” Harry said as he held out the coin towards Sirius.  
Sirius nodded as he held onto the coin. “I’m ready.”  
Harry took a deep breath and said the password. “Tumbleweeds.”

Sirius grabbed Harry’s arm just before he could face plant on the floor. Despite the seriousness of their visit Sirius still let out a small chuckle. “You alright?”  
Harry righted himself and shot him a small smile which looked more like a grimace, “Yeah, still not used to using a portkey, or a floo- I’m better off in a broom.” He shrugged.  
Sirius let out a louder laugh and patted Harry’s back.  
Not too long after they oriented themselves, Griphook entered through a side door and motioned for them to take a seat in front of the desk.   
“May your gold ever overflow Griphook.” Harry greeted earning a shocked look from Sirius.  
“And may your enemies tremble before you.” Griphook replied with a small nod as he sat before the desk. Turning his whole attention to Sirius, he snapped his fingers and a thick collection of parchment appeared on top of the table.  
“I assume you have been informed of the importance to this meeting?”  
“I assume it’s somewhat connected to the way you’re addressing us without our titles?”  
Griphook raised an appraising eyebrow at Sirius’s sentence. “It appears Heir Black that Azkaban haven’t completely rendered you witless.”  
Sirius grinned at the goblin’s sharp tongue, not taking offense to the slight jab.  
He’d had worse in Azkaban.  
“Before we proceed Heir Black, I want you to know that everything I am about to show you is all verified and factual. I want you to read everything before reacting as it well bode the best results for the both of you.”  
Sirius couldn’t do anything but nod at the goblin’s seriousness.  
Griphook handed the heap of parchment over and raised the wards around the room.  
Knowing the Black’s volatile tempers, it would be better safe than sorry.

To say that he was shocked was an understatement.   
To say that Griphook deciding to ward the room was a mistake, was a mistake in itself as the room shook. Thankfully the wards were in place or else most if not all of the breakables in the room will be just that- broken.  
A low growl escaped deep from Sirius’s throat, steadily growing louder as his anger spiked. It was only the gentle hand on his arm that settled him. He turned slowly and saw Harry-his son looking worriedly at him. Without thinking he pulled him into a tight hug. Harry relaxed immediately into the hug, clutching tightly at Sirius’s back.  
Sirius turned to Griphook with a resolute look on his face as he pulled away from the hug, although his hand remained clutched in Harry’s own.   
“We’ll do it. I want these goddamn seals off of me and my son.” He growled.  
Tears sprang into Harry’s eyes as he heard those words. He felt his throat close up as the swell of emotion threatened to overwhelm him. He raised his other hand to his eyes and roughly scrubbed the tears away.  
Griphook nodded and motioned for them to stand and follow him through a side door.  
“We’ll do the cleansing in one of the ritual rooms as we don’t know the magical backlash of having the seals expelled from your body will do.” He explained as he guided them to a wide room carved throughout with runes. At the center was a wide slab of stone covered everywhere with runes matching that of the walls of the room. Gesturing to the slab at the center, he motioned Harry to lay on top before snapping his fingers and a replica appeared beside it.  
Sirius laid on the other one and looked at Harry. “It’s going to be okay, pup. No matter what happens, I’ll be right here.” He reached out with one hand which Harry met halfway.  
“Thank you, Sirius.”  
The side doors burst open and a group of gold cloaked goblins entered, two of them holding a large vial of silvery liquid.  
Griphook took the vials and handed each of them one.  
One of the goblins, the tallest and somewhat the meanest looking and with the most gold decked robes stepped forward and regarded the two wizards laying on the ritual stone.  
“That liquid is a cleansing potion. Very potent but also very painful. Once you drink it the effect will be instantaneous. As the seals will be locked to your core, your appearance will change along with your magic.” He looked down at them and smiled predatorily. “Are you ready, young lords?”  
Both wizards nodded resolutely.   
The goblin raised his hand, indicating them to drink.  
Once done both wizards fell back to the stone, both screaming and trashing in agony.  
The rest of the cloaked goblins formed a circle around the two men, chanting softly under their breaths, voices molding into one.   
“When you awaken young lords, wreak havoc. Wreak havoc and claim your birthright.”

A pale skinny man lounged casually against the bed’s headboard. Sweating as his magic worked into overdrive mending his soul. He panted lightly as he felt around his magic, sensing his core mending and his magic growing. His thoughts weren’t jumbled as before, his memories clearer than they have been for years and he closed his eyes regretfully as he remembered the final moments before his demise. He remembered how his ideals morphed to one of reform to one of killings, how his followers’ respect turned to fear, and how his entire being turned from one capable of complex thinking to one of rambling insanity. He shook his head mournfully at what he had become. All because of one old meddling fool.

One Albus Dumbledore. 

His magic swirled madly around him as the thought of the old fool.  
How he had been manipulated and tricked even before he had come to Hogwarts; how by the end of his seventh year his ideals were slowly being molded into world domination.  
He supposed it was partially his fault, agreeing to meet the old man alone. He was a fool to think that nothing bad will come out of it. He left that meeting a changed man.  
A man he wasn’t proud of.  
He had lost everything he had worked for.  
He had lost his charisma and he was never vain but he knew the advantage his good looks had offered him and even that was lost to him. Instead he was more snake than man, more so by the end of his demise. What adoration he had left from his followers was slowly but surely turned into disgust at his appearance.  
He slowly ran his fingers through his slowly growing hair.  
He’ll have them back. He’ll have it all back and fix everything that was wrong.   
He’ll make that old fool pay for what he did to him. To him and all he believed in.  
For now, though, he had certain plans to put into motion and with that he placed the tip of his wand to a rune on his wrist and waited.   
Not a few seconds later, a blond-haired man burst into the room, gasping for breath. At the sight of his lord he immediately ran over and knelt beside the bed.   
“Lucius. I’m glad to see you, old friend.”  
The words sent Lucius weeping for his lord was truly back with them.  
“Welcome back, My Lord.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! You guys don't know how many times I've edited and deleted this chapter. No matter what I wrote I can't seem to be contented with what's in this chapter. Hopefully you guys still like it and tell me what you think of this chapter! ^^  
> See you next update guys! <3


	4. Breakthrough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh you guys!  
> 112 kudos and more than a thousand hits!  
> Thank you for the love guy and support everyone! This means so much to me!  
> I really appreciate it!! <3

Harry slowly blinked, his eyes feeling laden with weights with how slowly he dragged them open. The first thing he saw was sharp teeth. He let out a yell and scrambled backwards into a warm, solid chest. He looked behind him and saw Sirius, holding his shoulders and looking at him with awe and longing.

“Haris?” he croaked out through.

“D-dad?” Harry tentatively asked.

He found himself tugged into a warm and tight hug his dad’s hands clenched tightly to the back of his shirt holding on as if his life depended on it. His own raised itself to copy his dad’s, clutching similarly to the back of the other’s shirt-maybe even tighter.

The goblins looked on silently for a few moments before alerting the two wizards to their presence.

The one clad the most in gold stepped forward as they drew apart.

“Lord Black. Heir Black.” He nodded to the wizard as he said their titles. “I believe it is time we welcome you back to the Wizarding World- no matter how… late it may be.”

Both nodded. Harry took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak but the goblin raised a hand to stop him.

“It appears we have much to discuss, Heir Black. Might we have this conversation elsewhere?”

Harry stepped back and nodded. “Somewhere with a mirror, if that’s possible.”

“I believe that can be arranged.”

Green eyes similar but so different to his former eye color looked back at him. Instead of the _Avada Kedavra_ green from before, it was now a viridescent green with surrounding specks of grey. His former untamable mop of hair, grew out slightly and cascaded down his face in soft curls that ended at his now slightly pointed jaw. Light curls framed his cheeks, accentuating his high cheekbones. And instead of his former small and rounded nose, there sat a slight hook at the end of his nose. 

There was no sign of the Potters influence anywhere.

He was a compete and perfect mix of both his dad and his bearer.

He sat down once he finished looking at his new appearance and turned towards the head of the desk where Ragnuk the 13th sat.

The Goblin King.

For the nation’s ruler to handle his case was an honor. An honor that filled Harry with trepidation as he knew that whatever was unsealed during the ritual must be bad enough for the king to seek them out.

And he was right. As Ragnuk pulled out parchments upon parchments, contracts upon contracts- he knew he wouldn’t like the results.

Taking ahold of one parchment holding a summary of everything the goblins have unearthed, he slowly read through each one.

**_Heir to the line of Merlin_ **

**_Heir to the line of le Fay through marriage_ **

**_Heir to the line of Gryffindor_ **

**_Heir to the line of Black_ **

**_Heir to the line of Prince through marriage_ **

**_Heir to the line of Potter through adoption_ **

**_Wizengamots seats:_ **

**_Potter: Occupied_ **

**_Black: Occupied_ **

**_Prince: Occupied_ **

**_Merlin: Unoccupied_ **

**_le Fay: Unoccupied_ **

**_Gryffindor: Unoccupied_ **

****

He leaned back with a sigh and closed his eyes.

“I assume that the occupied seats in the Wizengamot are all taken by Dumbledore?”

Ragnuk nodded, “You assume correct Heir Black.”

There was the sound of shifting parchments before Ragnuk spoke again.

“I would also like to inform you, Heir Black that we have double checked your accounts and we found out that there was a consistent withdrawal of funds from multiple vaults signed under your name. As well as multiple donations to an Order of the Phoenix every month since 1981, a month after Albus Dumbledore became your magical guardian. The total amount of 30,500,000 galleons have been donated to said order. The amount is completely separate with the galleons that have been deposited to the Weasley family and children, and to one offshore account owned by Albus Dumbledore. Tracing back the transactions, it was all done by one person- “

“Dumbledore.” Harry gritted out.

“Correct again Heir Black. I believe that this certain information will be up to your liking.” Ragnuk said before passing on a piece of parchment to Harry.

Eyes widened he turned towards his father.

“I own most of Hogwarts.”

“What?”

“Technically you already own Hogwarts due to you being the heir of Gryffindor. But the steady influx of galleons being funded to the official account of Hogwarts also adds to the claim. Basically, Heir Black the whole Hogwarts staff is in your payroll. Including, the headmaster.” Ragnuk ended with a predatory grin.

Anger coursed through Harry at the information.

Every year, every goddamn year that he was at school facing whatever danger the old coot planned for him- and in the end he owned the school-he could've prevented all of it from happening.

Furious was an understatement.

“We can start writing the letters informing the headmaster about vacating the seats he currently presides over. Of course, Griphook has already prepared a letter to those who have been… mooching of your vaults, informing them of their theft and subsequent punishments should they fail to return back the total amount they got say, by the end of the month? Of course, the total amount plus the succeeding interests that your vaults have accommodated throughout the years.” Ragnuk added.

“Which would take them a while to pay off since calculating the cost of their whole family wouldn’t amount to enough of a percentage of their debt.” Sirius added. “Adding the Burrow only gives them, what, a thousand galleons more?” he scoffed.

“They wouldn’t be able to pay it back.”

Sirius nodded gleefully at his son.

“And about those letters,” Harry looked back up at Ragnuk. “I don’t want you to send them.”

“Pup what do-“

“Imagine, the oh so powerful headmaster walking up to the Wizengamot and being unable to claim the seats he coveted so much. Imagine three of those seats rejecting him publicly,” Harry added venomously. “And what, he could still stay inside of course with him owning the- oh what seat was that again? The lesser known, no power what so ever to gain any votes- oh! Of course, the seat of Dumbledore. Silly of me to forget.” Harry grinned up at the goblin. “Can you imagine, King Ragnuk?”

The goblin widened his grin, fully displaying his full set of sharp goblin fangs.

“I like how you think, Heir Black.”

Albus Dumbledore was a simple man.

A man with certain and specific needs, yes.

But a simple man nonetheless.

All he wanted was to win the war, rule over the Wizengamot- not hard to do with all the power his seats give him-, take over certain vaults and properties and merrily live his life sucking on lemon drops.

Or something entirely different, mind you-

But that’s it.

A simple man indeed.

So imagine his shock when he went to sit on the Black seat and was quite literally shocked upright as a bolt of electricity shot up his body. He looked down at the seat, looking it over for any hexes or jinxes. Finding none he moved to sit again and let out a yelp as a much stronger shock ran through his body. He glared down at the seat, feeling the back of his neck heat up in embarrassment as he felt more than saw the eyes of the Wizengamot body bore into him.

“Issues? Headmaster?”

He turned his head to the side and met the amused grey eyes of one Lucius Malfoy.

“I believe that is none of your concern.”

“Oh, but I find that it is. Especially when a _Pureblood_ seat is apparently rejecting someone who beforehand has no issues whatsoever in claiming them.” Lucius drawled loudly.

Blasted Malfoy.

He was doing it on purpose to attract attention.

And attract attention it did when several pureblood members looked on intently as opposed to the indifferent masks they usually plaster on their faces.

“As I said Mr. Malfoy, there is no problem.” Albus said in a low tone, trying to convince the onlookers to pay them no mind.

“Well then. Do carry on Headmaster.”

Albus appeared his normal genial grandfather self on the outside but on the inside, he was fuming. Internally cursing and hexing the blasted pureblood in front of him.

By now most of the hall had their attention turned towards them, the uncommon sight of the Headmaster and Lucius Malfoy of all people conversing garnering their curiosity.

Albus side eyed Lucius, his eyes losing its trademark twinkle.

He took a deep breath and moved towards the seat. Gingerly sitting on it, he clenched his teeth in anticipation for the sting.

He let out the breath he was holding when there was no shock that ran through his body, sending Lucius a smug look over his half moon glasses.

Lucius only raised an eyebrow in response.

Just as his whole body relaxed against the seat, Albus flew through the air, landing haphazardly on the center of the hall.

Apparently, the seat didn’t take well to being ignored of its warnings.

The purebloods seated near the pair watched with thinly veiled amusement as the seat quite literally sprung up and threw off the venerated headmaster.

A beat of silence passed through the Wizengamot.

A loud cough cut through the palpable tension in the air and garnered their attention.

“I think you might want to, er look for another seat Headmaster.” Amelia Bones advised.

Albus stood up stiffly, dusting off his robes as he glanced around the hall, watching with embarrassment as half of those present sent him glances of amusement.

“I believe you’re right Amelia.” He said genially as he tampered down his urge to stomp and throw a tantrum.

He walked towards the seats once again passing in front of Lucius who gave him a slight smirk before plastering on his pureblood mask.

He bypassed the Potter seat, looking down at it with a calculating gaze.

He stopped by the Prince seat, contemplating before finally moving forward, down a few rows and right in front of the Dumbledore seat.

He aborted the sneer he felt forming on his face halfway as he slowly sat down.

If what he was thinking was right, the seat wouldn’t give him any problems.

Realization washed over him as nothing happened to the seat.

Someone has taken over his power seats.

Someone informed the blasted boy.

_Someone broke his seals._

It was the last realization that sent a cold feeling of dread up the old headmaster’s body.

He must find the boy.

It would be a day that the Wizengamot would remember for years to come.

A day that every member would hold dear to their memory, be they ally or foe to one Albus Dumbledore.

It was a funny sight to see as their Chief Warlock tried to leave the meeting only moments after it commenced.

Funnier still was how the old headmaster stomped his feet on the ground as the minister refused point blank to let him leave the hall, screaming red in the face as he pointed the headmaster to his abandoned seat.

Some failed to hold in their laughter as he tried to apparate away and ended up flat on his backside at the center of the hall, reminiscent to how the Black seat sent him earlier, unable to get up as the old charms surrounding the hall activated and locked him quite literally in place.

The meeting resumed with the headmaster fuming petulantly, arms crossed across his chest, stuck in place at the very center of the Wizengamot’s attention.

Oh how Lucius would enjoy sharing this particular memory to his old friend.

It was almost a joke how easy it was to enter Hogwarts again.

With the castle almost welcoming him with open arms, recognizing one of the Founder’s blood running through his veins.

Cloaked in a very strong disillusionment charm, he strode through the halls unnoticed.

He of course avoided the places where he felt the Animagus’ magical signature was. Strong as his magic was, he could never be too sure around McGonagall.

That witch is too perceptive for her own good.

He felt the cold and dampness in the air grow.

He was close.

Waking deeper into the dungeons, deeper than the dormitories, and bypassing the other secret passage to the Chamber he thought back to the moment he knew of what lies deep into Hogwarts.

Of whom lies deep in Hogwarts.

He stopped in front of a brick wall. Moving closer he caught sight of certain places where the paint was chipped off. A pattern, perhaps. A riddle to enter the hidden prison deep within Hogwarts.

He normally loves Riddle; hell, Riddle is his last name.

But he has no time for that now.

_Open_

He hissed out, the serpentine language flowing from his lips naturally.

The bricks slowly dislodged and fell apart, sliding against each other to make an opening for him.

Once the opening was big enough, he slipped through and rushed forward.

Even in the darkness his steps didn’t falter.

He would recognize those magical signatures from a mile away.

Stopping in front of a low-ceilinged cell, he silently casted a _lumos_ and aimed the light in front of him.

There laying on the cold, damp floor, with chains around their ankles and wrists bound tight, raised above their head and attached to an overhead hook.

He let out a hissed breath.

“My dear friends. What has he done to you?”

The light must have disturbed their eyes as both slowly stirred awake.

He watched with baited breath as hazel and green eyes slowly blinked into awareness.

As those eyes focused on him, he waited for recognition to flash through them.

Instead, they frotted at the mouth as they struggled against their bonds to have at him.

“You!” they spat out. “You blasted, slimy sn-“

The red light of a stunner flashed through the darkness.

Well…

That wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for.

A bubbling potion brewed over the fire as a tall man, decked all in black watched over it with a dour expression. As the potion shimmered so did the man standing over it.

He looked down in alarm before collapsing to the ground screaming in agony as a wave of magic washed over him. Through the pain, he could feel his insides reshaping themselves, his appearance morphing but most of all, he felt his something in his core snap into place.

And with one loud scream followed by a bright light, the man fell to his side, gasping for breath.

With tears streaming down his cheeks, he slowly reached down and hugged his stomach.

“My baby… My son…”

Choked gasps and pained sobs escaped his lips.

“My Haris.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Dun!  
> So this was a longer chapter compared to the first ones. A little insight to what's going on with the others in the fic.   
> What do you guys think? Who do you think Tom freed from the prison? *wink wink*  
> And what do you think's gonna happen now that Snape has been 'freed'?  
> Tell me all what you think in the comment section!   
> See you next update guys! <3


	5. Emergence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> Wow! I can't believe the love and attention this story is getting! I really appreciate it everyone! <3  
> When I first started typing this I was scared that no one would be interested enough to read it. So reading all your comments and seeing all the kudos you guys left really warms my heart. <3  
> This chapter is a long one, so I hope you guys like it!

He couldn’t believe it.

All these years he felt something lacking inside of him.

Something that left a deep and wide hole inside of him.

It ate at him.

Made him bitter, dour, unapproachable-

Angry

Everyone, meaning the teaching staff, thought it was because of the dark lord. Because of his role in the war.

He let them think that way.

How could he question them when he himself didn’t know the answer as to why.

But now, now he knows why.

His son. His beloved son.

How could he have done that, all of that to his only child.

He gritted his teeth against the pain coursing through his body as he slowly stood up, eyes set into a sharp glare and lips pulled back into a snarl.

He rushed out of his rooms and walked briskly towards the headmaster’s quarters. Barking the password at the gargoyle, he took the steps two at a time as he climbed up.

He slammed the door open, delighting in the way it banged against the wall.

“Albus!” he growled out.

He watched in delight as the old coot jumped slightly, banging his head on the alcove above the fireplace, just as he was coming out of it.

“Severus? What in Merlin’s balls are you doing here?”

“I know! I know everything! About my son! About Haris!”

Albus froze and slowly turned towards him.

“What did you say?”

His glare deepened as he gritted out, “I was a fool to ever trust you, old man. You meddling fool! How could you do that to him? Only a month old, and you snatched him from me! From his father!”

Albus only stared at him in silence.

“You gave him away and had those stupid muggles abuse him! For what?”

“It was all for the greater good, Severus. You know that.”

“Stop lying!” he roared out. “Stop it. It ends now Albus.”

For the first time since he could remember, he saw panic flit across the old man’s face.

“What? What do you mean?”

Snape whirled around and headed for the door.

“I’m going to get my son back Albus. No matter the reason for your blasted ‘greater good’, my son will have no part of it!”

The sound of robes rustling came from behind him.

The hairs at the back of his neck stood up.

“I’m afraid you can’t do that, Severus.”

A drink-

Maybe more-

That was what he wanted after that blasted and embarrassing Wizengamot meeting.

Oh how he wanted to blast those smug little faces to pieces.

He couldn’t of course. He still had the war to win, chess pieces to control and the Wizarding world to rule.

So, of course he couldn’t have blasted those idiots to smithereens.

He stepped off the floo, intent to get to his firewhiskey, when a loud roar of his name made him jump and hit his head on the floo top.

All thoughts of having that drink disappeared from the forefront of his mind as Severus bit out every single secret he had over the boy’s birth.

He couldn’t have failed, could he? He casted the strongest compulsion charms at the man across from him, force fed him the most potent obedience charm in his system, he even risked the man’s skill in potions just to be able to seal his core.

His magic couldn’t have failed him!

“-ends now, Albus.”

He snapped back into attention at those words.

“What? What do you mean?”

He watched as the other man whirled around, robes billowing behind him.

“I’m going to get my son back Albus. No matter the reason for your blasted ‘greater good’, my son will have no part of it!”

His robes rustled as he rushed to take his wand out.

With a steely look in his eyes and a steady hand, he pointed his wand at the other man’s back.

“I’m afraid you can’t do that, Severus.”

He flicked his wrist.

“ _Imperio_.”

Tom sighed as he stared down at the bed where the Potters lay asleep side by side.

Of all the things he expected them to do, raging at him about being the slimy dark lord wasn’t at the top of his list. Merlin, it wasn’t even on his list.

He had to stun them again once he arrived back at Riddle Manor when they regained consciousness and tried to head butt him of all things.

Once he got them in control, he casted several diagnostic spells and found a lot of interweaving compulsion and compliance spells tightly bound to their magic. The magic was traced way back. Old enough to be detected easily but strong enough to be recognized.

He raised his wand to cast another shield charm before settling into the sitting area to the side of the bed with a glass of brandy.

Countering the spells had been easy for him, it was the effect of the spells being broken that was the issue. With how long it was imbued in their system, it was bound to cause some nasty side effects. If only Severus were here. He could use his potions to dampen the complications on the Potters.

The Potters- his two close friends.

One would think that a Slytherin would not find friendship with a pair of Gryffindors but the three of them clicked somehow. They were the first of the few people who understood his cause-what he was fighting for.

And unstable as he was at the last leg of his last life, seeing them fight against him- side by side with his greatest nemesis-

Well, it pushed him over the edge faster than those mind-boggling curses the old coot set on him.

There was a knock on his door before it opened, admitting an amused Lucius Malfoy.

All amusement quickly faded as his eyes settled on the two-unconscious people on the bed.

“My Lord! How- where-”

He motioned for the blond to sit across from him, once seated he explained where he sensed the Potters’ magic, how he found them and what their state were before and after he rescued them from Hogwarts.

After he finished explaining, Lucius seemed older with the knowledge he was imparted with.

With a deep sigh he summoned his own glass of brandy and took a long drink.

“So when will they awaken, my lord?”

“Please, Lucius, Tom will do. I am not the same man as I was before death.”

Lucius let out a small smile and nodded.

“I do not know for certain, but I am hoping that they get better by the end of the week.” Tom said, “The old coot’s magic was imbedded so deeply into their cores with how long they were under his control.”

“Speaking of the old coot, I believe I have something that can amuse you, my lo- Tom.” Lucius said, clear amusement on his expression.

“Oh?” he replied with a raised eyebrow.

With his wand on his temple, Lucius drew out his memory of the Wizengamot meeting earlier and placed in into the pensieve Tom had summoned.

With a smirk, Tom delved into the pensieve.

Harry, he decided to keep his name since Haris sounded too formal and too unfamiliar to him at the moment, with promises to let his dad and father call him his real name in private, stepped into the foyer of one of the Black properties, Ragnuk had shown them. He had expected all of the Black properties to be dull, dire and dark as Grimmauld place but surprisingly some of them were bright and could be featured on one of those muggle home living magazines.

He had said as much to his dad who let out a loud barking laugh before ruffling his hair.

“There are a lot of things that people don’t know about the Blacks, pup. Our love for home décor is just one of them.”

He had laughed at that as they walked through the large living room.

“I like this one.”

Sirius looked at him with a funny glint to his eyes. “You do?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s big but not too big that I can get lost in it. I guess its kind of small enough to be cozy for the three of us. I mean- uh- when father gets around to coming here… you know?”

Sirius shook his head fondly before drawing Harry into a hug.

“You two are really alike.”

Despite being confused, Harry still hugged his dad, relishing the contact and comfort the hug provided.

Sirius pulled out of the hug but kept an arm around Harry’s shoulder pulling him towards an outdoor patio.

“Your father chose this house for the same reason you did. He wanted somewhere we can all be comfortable in, somewhere we could raise you happily, in peace and away from the brewing war.” His dad had a far away look on his face, telling Harry that his dad wasn’t really there with him at the moment.

“We wanted more kids. We wanted you to grow up surrounded by love, by siblings. You know, your Uncle Reg loved you ever since he held you in his arms. Sad that he-” his dad trailed off, eyes widening as an influx of memories suddenly flooded his system. Harry watched worriedly as his dad clutched at his head, groaning in pain.

“Dad?” he laid a hand on Sirius’s forearm.

Finally, Sirius shook his head a couple of times as if trying to erase the remaining pain.

Harry casually casted a silent and wandless pain relief spell.

He smiled as his dad shot him a grateful look.

“We have it all wrong. He- he wasn’t trying to kill you. We were- he was- oh merlin what did he do?” Sirius gasped out brokenly.

Harry _accioed_ a stool from inside the house and guided Sirius down on it, asking questions as he did so.

“Calm down dad. Take a deep breath.”

Sirius took in a heaving gasp of breath.

“That’s it. Now who did what? What did we get wrong?”

Sirius shook his head and clutched at Harry’s hand.

“We’re on the wrong side, pup. He… he was trying to protect you. He was trying to protect all of us! Dear Merlin. He was trying to save you!”

“Who?” Harry asked.

Sirius looked up and stared straight into Harry’s eyes.

“Voldemort- Tom. He- he’s on your side.”

Sirius cautiously looked at his son as he silently spelled the patio back to normal.

His son had lost control of his magic as his emotions went haywire.

He believed he could have dropped the information a little bit better on his side but he was overwhelmed too. But he had a decade of knowing the truth and compared to his son he merely had a jolt to his memory.

“I want revenge. I want him to pay. I want the old coot to suffer like I did.” His son growled before calming down and laying his head on the back of the sofa he was sitting on. Sirius sat next to his son.

“All along I had a family of my own. For years I lived with the Dursleys feeling unwanted, unloved. I watched on as they showered Dudley with so much affection, so much love that they spoiled him rotten. I listened through my cupboard as they laughed together, enjoyed life with each other.” His voice became softer and softer as he continued to speak.

“I lived feeling the emptiness grow each time I was abandoned, discarded, thought of as a waste of space. I tried hard. I tried so hard every time they ordered me to do anything, tried too hard in finishing my chores, thinking that maybe if I did a good job, that they would love me. That they would change their minds and welcome me with open arms when they found me useful.”

A lone tear slid down Harry’s cheek.

“All that ever effort only gave me harder and longer chores to do.”

He scoffed.

“God, I was so stupid.”

Sirius immediately pulled his son to his chest, murmuring soothingly into his son’s hair.

His heart broke as soft sobs escaped his son’s lips. Years of torment and hurt finally escaping the tight hold his son had over them. The cupboard comment was stored way for future discussions, preferably when his son has a better control over his emotions.

“I want to end this war. I’ve had enough. I just want to stay with you and father. I refuse to be a pawn any longer.”

“I’m sure Tom wi-”

“No.”

Sirius stilled and looked down at his son.

“I don’t want to choose a side. I don’t want to have any part in their games.” His son pulled away from the hug and looked at him with gleaming green eyes.

Sirius nodded and patted down a few errant strands of his son’s hair. “Whatever you want son. I’m always on your side.”

Harry gave him a wide watery smile before latching onto him, tucking his head under his chin.

Sirius let out a smile of his own and rocked his son gently, enjoying this peaceful moment with his son.

Suddenly, he felt his son stiffen before pulling away completely, slowly standing with his head held upwards.

“Haris?” he called out. “What’s wrong?”

“Father. He… he’s hurt.”

Sirius shot up from the sofa and stood before his son.

His son whose green eyes were now a gleaming silver. The magic surrounding his son felt raw, warm, and immeasurable. Almost choking him in its overwhelming power.

Harry’s face was devoid of all emotions as he tilted his head, seemingly sensing something.

“I have to get to Father. He’s in pain. Someone is hurting him.”

The last sentence was growled lowly and Sirius both felt and saw Harry’s magic crackling around him.

“The old man will pay.”

With those parting words, his son disappeared from his sight taking with him the overwhelming pressure of his power.

He did not envy the witch or wizard who crossed his son.

Severus felt the spell hit him, his nerves and anxiety calming almost immediately. His mind emptied, his senses dulled- nothing.

He felt nothing.

And it was the feeling of nothingness that pushed him to fight off the curse.

His brows furrowed as he tried to cut off the connection while the headmaster urged him to walk forward.

He had a newfound respect for his son for being strong willed to brush it off so casually when he himself was struggling.

The thought of his son was the last push he needed to cut the connection.

With a flick of his wrist, he had his wand in his hand and aimed a spell at the headmaster.

Caught off guard with him being able to fight of the _Imperius_ the cutting spell hit the headmaster’s shoulder, causing his arm to flop down to his side. Casting a blasting spell, he crouched down behind a large bookshelf, hearing something break on the other side.

He breathed through his nose, making as little noise as possible. He held his wand loosely as he listened.

Cluttering to his right had his body twist towards it a _Reducto_ on his lips.

His spell hit the same time his end of the bookshelf exploded. Instincts honed since the start of the war had his body jump to the opposite end just in time before a hex landed in the space he just sat on. He quickly jumped towards a thick, low cabinet, hiding behind its bulk.

Guess the headmaster’s penchant for collecting had its uses.

Useful, but not in the way the old coot probably thought of.

Distracted he missed the next spell that connected with his ankle.

Pain seared up his leg immediately, the hex cutting of his Achilles tendon.

Biting down a curse, he whirled around and sent his own spell.

The headmaster erected a shield charm which absorbed the spell Severus sent.

He gritted his teeth against the pain, flinging spell after spell at the old man.

Albus was out in the open now, confident that his shield charm would hold up against the other’s barrage of spells.

The twinkling was now gone from the old man’s eyes. Instead it was cold and steely, focused in the duel he was in.

Severus flicked his wrist again-intent now on sending a _Sectumsempra_ when his wand twitched and flew from his hand.

With fear in his eyes, he watched as Albus swiped his wand from the air and tuck it into his robes.

“Now. Where were we? Oh yes. I remember.”

Severus braced himself for the curse, waiting for the calm to of the imperio to wash over him.

No calm washed over him.

Instead, pain licked at every nerve in his body, crawling up and down his spine, down his arms, his legs.

It burned at him, a heat that ate at his insides. Try as he might to keep silent, a pained gasp slipped from his lips.

No matter how many times he’d gone under this specific curse before, this _Crucio_ seemed to hurt more.

Dumbledore had fallen from grace, settling for casting an Unforgivable.

The pain let up and he took in large gasping breaths, his body shaking from the after effects.

From the corner of his eyes he saw the headmaster aim his wand on him again, a slight smirk on his lips.

“ _Crucio._ ”

He clenched his eyes shut and waited for the pain.

Instead of the pain, a choked gasp came from across him.

Slowly opening his eyes, he looked in awe at the sight in front of him.

Standing over him was Haris, his son, hand up palm facing outward with a glowing bright green shield charm encasing them both.

He slowly got on his knees the movement made difficult with the sharp jolts of pain the curse left behind.

The headmaster was dumbstruck with shock as his mouth flapped open and close, a knot forming between his eyebrows.

“Wha-How-You-” he stuttered like the fool he was.

“Haris…” Severus said.

He watched as his son peeked at him from over his shoulder with eyes glowing an eerie silver.

He watched his son’s expression turn from worry to anger as his body was racked with pained shivers.

“ _Reducto!_ ”

His son whirled around and flicked the spell to the side with the back of his hand.

“You.” His son growled before taking a step forward.

Albus couldn’t stop himself from taking a step backwards as the boy in front of him moved closer.

He spat out spell after spell at the boy in rapid succession and watched them all fail to hit the boy, instead his spells either bounced off the shield surrounding the boy or was flicked off effortlessly with the back of his hand.

He felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of his head.

One of his spells bounced off the shield and hit him on his chest.

Just his luck that it was one of the cutting spells that bounced back.

He staggered backwards, clutching at his chest as blood seeped through his robes.

He glared up at the boy across from him, an ugly sneer upon his lips.

The boy watched him with a bored look on his face.

He fought down the flinch that formed when the boy raised his hand.

“ _Accio_ Severus’s wand.”

His robes fluttered for a few seconds before the wand shot out and landed on the boy’s outstretched hand.

The boy turned his back on him and went to help his father up.

A wide grin formed on his lips as that defenseless back was oh so carelessly offered to him.

He raised his wand hand and pointed it towards the blasted boy’s back.

“ _Avada Kedavra._ ”

Albus grinned as he waited for the spell to connect, all thoughts of his well laid out plan off his mind.

“Haris!” Severus called out in panic as the green light shot towards his son.

The grin fell off Albus’s lips as the blasted boy whirled around and seemingly caught the spell in his hand. Electricity sparked from the boy’s hand as the spell hit.

He watched with growing fear as the boy-no, the wizard in front of him twisted and turned the _Killing Curse_ in his hand, a look of awe on his face.

Unbidden his body shook with fear at the blatant show of power from a wizard, decades younger than him. 

This time he couldn’t stop his flinch when the boy’s eyes landed on him.

“You disgust me.” The boy said before pulling his arm back and throwing the curse towards him.

His eyes clenched shut as the glowing green spell came closer.

Bright light exploded before everything went silent.

He cautiously slipped his eyes open and saw a spot a little off from his face completely dark and singed.

Any closer and the spell would have hit him square in the face.

Looking around, he found no evidence of the boy and his father save for the mess the duel left behind.

Albus righted himself and sank heavily onto his seat.

A demented smirk grew on his face as a manic laugh slowly bubbled up from his throat.

He’ll teach that boy a lesson.

He should’ve just killed him when he had the chance.

Revenge will be sweeter this time around.

Sirius shot up from the sofa and immediately dropped to his knees, cradling the shaking form of his long-lost husband in his arms.

“What happened? Are you alright?”

His husband turned those dark eyes towards him and he felt himself falling all over again.

A hand reached out and cradled his jaw gently.

“Sirius.” His husband breathed out.

His arms tightened around the far too skinny man in his hold.

“What happened?”

Severus shook his head and turned towards their son.

Their son.

Their son who looked too pale, swaying where he stood as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

A dull thud was heard as Harry, magically drained, lost consciousness.

“Haris!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! Harry riled Dumbles a bit. What's the old headmaster gonna do now??
> 
> A little family reunion at the end, now only if Harry was conscious for it, noh?
> 
> After this, things are gonna move a bit faster. A little Drarry in the next chapter too, only if you squint hard enough though!
> 
> Anyways, see you guys next chapter! <3 ^_^


	6. Heartbeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I uploaded this chapter a little late compared to the other chapters because something happened IRL.  
> My dad's office recently had someone transferred to their branch, and news came earlier that the Chief from the branch their new co-worker came from tested positive for Corona. So they have to quarantine themselves as they waited for their co-worker's test result to come back. >.< fingers crossed that it turns out negative.  
> So my attention was sufficiently divided during this chapter. I wanted it longer but my mind was really not into it because of the Corona scare. ^^' so it's almost a filler chapter, kinda.  
> Hope you still like it though. <3

Sirius was not panicking.

He was only raising his voice a little, pacing back and forth before crouching in front of his son to fuss over him before standing and doing it all over again.

The next time he moved to stand however, his husband’s hand shot out to grab his wrist and pulled him down beside him.

“Calm down.” Severus said, his voice soft, belying the worry etched clear in his face, as he shot a diagnostic spell at his son.

Sirius collapsed on the floor, wringing his hands together as he watched his husband work.

He was trying to push the clawing panic he was feeling down. It wouldn’t do them any good if he started to panic himself.

He looked down at his son and gently brushed Harry’s hair from his forehead.

His son was small, smaller and thinner for someone his age.

It baffles him how someone so small like his son could hold that much power in his tiny body. The dormant powers that were unsealed from the cleansing must have overloaded his son.

A frustrated noise came from his husband’s gritted teeth.

“He needs a healer. His magic is depleted and there’s nothing I can do about that. I’m not a healer Sirius and even then, I don’t have the potion I need to give him brewed on hand.” He shook his head as he cradled his son to his body.

“We can’t go to the healers. The prophet’s gonna have a field day when they catch wind of his whereabouts.”

His husband looked at him with pained eyes. “We need to go to Narcissa.”

Sirius sucked in a deep breath before letting it all out in one long exhale. He looked down at his too pale son cradled in his husband’s arms before looking up and nodded resolutely.

Narcissa Malfoy was set on having tea out on their balcony overlooking the manor’s garden, sipping one of her favorite blends as she lounged under the sun.

As all pureblood women were taught at a young age, one should always be prepared at least one step ahead. It was a way to be prepared for any unforeseen events. It was also one of the first things she was taught as a way to somewhat be in control of her household.

What she wasn’t planning on however was for the floo in the receiving room to flare up, admitting three men in her home.

One healthy looking Sirius Black.

One different looking Severus Snape.

And one vaguely familiar looking young man cradled in her cousin’s arms.

This wasn’t part of her pureblood training.

She wasn’t taught this during her classes. Her mother didn’t drill this into her head.

So, she did what every pureblood wife would do in her situation.

“Lucius!” she raised her wand and pointed it towards the newcomers as she waited for her husband.

Not a few moments later, Lucius barged into the room robes billowing behind him, wand already in hand and pointed in front of him, a worried look on his normally stoic face.

Her husband paused mid-step as he caught sight of the newcomers.

“What- what are you doing here? How did you bypass the wards?”

Sirius shook his head. “Your wards must have sensed us as family. Other than that, I have no idea how.” He gestured towards the young boy in his arms. “Please, we can talk later, but please.” Sirius looked pleadingly at Lucius. “Please help my son.”

Narcissa’s eyes trailed towards the boy in her cousin’s arms, too pale, too still, young- the same age as her son. She lowered her wand and her gaze softened as she moved to check on the boy.

“No.”

Her husband’s tone made her pause immediately and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Lucius shook his head minutely as a response.

“What was our lord truly fighting for in the start?”

Understanding flooded through Narcissa at her husband’s words. If the men truly were the same wizards she knew back then, they would know the answer to the question.

“Our lord was fighting for the muggleborns to have pre-Hogwarts education. To educate them of our culture and our traditions before they enter our world, seeing as their influx has slowly eradicated the old ways.” Sirius answered immediately. “He wanted to preserve our rituals and continue the worship of old magic. Of Mother Magic herself.”

Lucius lowered his wand with a nod. She followed as he stepped closer to the three, immediately checking on the boy. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Lucius laying a hand on her cousin’s shoulder, squeezing lightly.

“Welcome back.”

Her husband’s words brought a smile to her face and tears to well in the corner of her eyes.

The door to the receiving room opened and all heads turned towards the figure who stepped in.

“Mother? What’s Potter doing here?”

She looked confusedly at her son, seeing the same confusion on the other men’s faces.

“Potter?” her husband asked.

Draco nodded as he gestured to the young boy in her cousin’s arms. “Isn’t that Potter? Having lost that rat’s nest he calls hair does wonders to his face.”

“You can tell it’s him?” Severus asked, the first words he uttered since he arrived.

Again, her son nodded. “I’d know Potter anywhere.”

Draco’s words had both her and her husband look at him contemplatively with one raised eyebrow.

He flushed as he realized his wording. “I mean. Uh- I see him all the time at school, so-”, he trailed off.

She filed that thought away as she gestured for them to follow them out the room.

“Let’s put him to bed, shall we? I can work with him better when he’s lying down. And one of you needs to be off their feet. I know the after effects of the Cruciatus when I see one.” She looked pointedly at the potions master, who she applauded mentally at being able to hide the tremors running through his body. If she wasn’t familiar with the curse, she might’ve missed it but as it is, she’s apparently _too_ familiar with the curse, having seen it ravaging her husband more often than she would like to.

She shook her head to dispel the thoughts as she listened to her cousin scolding his husband.

Her eyes met her husband’s and he nodded at her silent question.

Once the boy’s health is stable enough, all of them will be having a talk.

And maybe afterwards, she could squeeze out some information from her son and his apparent attraction to the boy she was helping out.

The first thing he noticed was that he was lying on something soft, softer than his bed at Grimmauld, and softer than whatever threadbare blanket the Dursleys had ‘graciously’ given him.

The second thing he noticed were the voices that surrounded him, taking in hushed murmurs and sounding dull- like he was underwater.

The third thing he noticed was there was a hand gently running through his hair, lightly scratching his scalp, and another hand softly stroking his hand, lightly tracing through his fingers.

It was the third thing that slowly brought him to consciousness.

Groaning softy, he slowly blinked his eyes open.

Those gentle hands stilled at his motions, sending a jolt of panic over him. He didn’t want it to stop! He wanted those hands to continue what they were doing.

“Sshh Haris. It’s okay. You’re okay.” A gentle voice cooed and the ministrations returned.

Oh, did he say that out loud? He wasn’t complaining though, the hands feel good.

Chuckles reached his ears and the hand that was stroking his hair gently cupped his cheek.

He gently nuzzled into the hand.

There was a soft almost exasperated sigh before the same gentle voice spoke, “He nuzzles like you. Must be the dog in you.” The voice teased.

“Hey!” another voice gasped indignantly.

His eyes opened and the first thing he saw were amused black eyes and indignant grey eyes.

“…I…” his throat made the worst frog impression in the world as it tried to croak his words out.

A glass of water immediately appeared in front of him, the rim pressed lightly to his lips as a pair of hands gently tilted him upwards.

He sipped at the water even though he wanted nothing more but to guzzle at it deeply. He knew from experience that drinking too fast just made him puke it back up.

Another thing to thank the Dursleys for.

As soon as he drank his fill, he gently pushed the glass away and focused on his surroundings.

His dad looked at him with a small grin, worry in his eyes. “Hi pup.”

He returned his dad’s grin with a small smile and turned his gaze to his other side. This time he was met with blank dark eyes and lips set in a thin line. He tilted his head as he saw his bearer’s expression.

His bearer returned his look flatly, no worries, no anger, and certainly there was no sign of any contempt that was usually thrown at him- especially during the man’s classes.

Harry thought different though.

For no matter how much his bearer tried to hide his expressions, his aura exuded worry- and apprehension.

His bearer was scared.

Of what, Harry didn’t know. But there was one thing he wanted to say.

“Can I have more head pats?”

His bearer’s face cracked and before Harry could say anything else, he was engulfed in a warm, tight, and loving embrace. He raised his hands and wrapped them around the shaking body of his bearer, tightening his hold as he heard sobs from above his head.

They sat there for a while, both basking in the love coming from each other.

It was a few minutes later that Severus pulled away and cupped his cheeks, staring softly into his eyes.

“You can have head pats whenever you want, my son.” He murmured, lips trembling as he said the last words.

Harry’s eyes widened for a split second before closing as he leaned his head against his bearer’s shoulder, a soft smile on his lips.

“Thank you, father.”

He felt his father’s breath hitch and if he felt him exhale suspiciously shaky, no one would have to know.

“I feel extremely left out.”

Both of them pulled away slightly and turned towards Sirius.

His dad stood at the foot of the bed, hands on his hips and an indignant look on his face.

“Oh, please Sirius. You had him for almost the whole summer.” His father teased.

His dad let out a huff and jutted his lower lip out, pouting to the high heavens.

He let out a wide grin and held his hand out.

Sirius beamed before jumping into the bed, crashing into the two males.

Harry gasped as his dad crushed both him and his father in a bone crushing hug.

He let out a laugh as his father huffed.

He watched giddily as his father looked exasperatedly at his dad before softening and ruffling through his shaggy hair gently.

His dad purred and nuzzled into his father’s hand.

He leaned his head back into his father’s shoulder and let out a content hum.

“If Haris gets more head pats, I demand more belly rubs.”

Harry couldn’t help the loud laugh that escaped his lips even if he wanted to.

Draco closed the door to Pott- Black’s, it was going to take a while to get used to calling him that, room; not wanting to barge into the little family reunion.

He walked away from the door, walking aimlessly through the corridors.

The talk from earlier certainly opened up his mind to certain things.

His rival was apparently not really a Potter, but a Black.

The Dark Lord was apparently not dark and was fighting not for the eradication of the muggleborns but for educating them on the old ways.

And apparently the one against reviving the old ways and more for welcoming the muggle tradition was the headmaster himself.

The headmaster was apparently so against it that he doused the dark lord with enough compulsion, memory and mind spells that he turned into a snake like monster that wanted the extinction of the muggle race.

His head ached at the new information presented to him, not really grasping what he heard.

That was the reason he wanted to speak to Pot-Black in the first place. To hear his side, and probably have an explanation about everything- as well as the new appearance.

He gulped as he remembered seeing those glittering green eyes alight on high aristocratic cheekbones.

If he thought he was attractive before, his new features highlighted everything tenfold.

He flushed at his own thoughts, pushing them away from the forefront of his mind as he approached the sitting room.

He saw his mother seated at one of the chaise lounges a tea cup in hand.

He watched as his mother raised her head to look at him before gesturing to the other cup of tea on the table beside her, patting the space beside her with her other hand.

He gulped before following his mother, sitting stiffly beside her.

Narcissa kept silent for a moment, lightly sipping at her tea as Draco sweated bullets beside her.

She placed the tea cup on its saucer on the table and turned towards her son.

“Now Draco, calm down, would you? I’m not going to do anything.”

He looked at his mother suspiciously.

“I only want to talk to you about Heir Black.” His mother said in a teasing tone.

Draco tilted his head upward and groaned.

Someone kill him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, about the thing about Narcissa calling for Lucius: I have nothing against women standing up for themselves, as I am a woman myself, and I believe women are strong and could handle themselves well. I also think Narcissa is strong herself, but in this, she was alone and caught off guard with 3 men( albeit one was unconscious) suddenly appearing in her home. Her home that was heavily warded mind you, and only accepts those from family. So she was of course confused on what to do with the new-comers that her home has accepted as family, so her first instinct was to call Lucius for help. Someone who knows and set up the wards in their home.  
> Hope that clears up that certain line in the chapter. ^^'
> 
> Anyways! I just wanted to tell you guys, that I'm probably going to update every other week after this since I'm worried about my dad and I can't really focus on writing with my attention elsewhere. It doesn't help that I'm also going to isolate myself at home until my dad's result comes back. Just to be safe for me and to keep everybody else safe too! uwu
> 
> Still, hope you guys understand and wait for the next chapter. ^_^  
> Love you and hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3


	7. Of Emeralds and Rubies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!!   
> So a lot has happened this past week. My dad's colleague ended up testing positive so they were quarantined until all of them got tested for Covid. My dad hasn't been home for more than a week since they got tested and he was supposed to be home today but apparently there was a mix up between their results so they have to get retested again on Monday. Which sucks since they aren't given enough necessities and even if I wanted to bring him some I can't cause they are in isolation. Kind of clumsy though that they mixed up the results but I kinda don't want to blame them since test centers also have it bad during this time but they also could have handled their test results a little better though. So... here's to hoping my dad tests negative.  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Narcissa stifled her laughter at her son’s reaction. Goodness, with the way he was reacting you would’ve thought he was being tortured.

Well, he probably was with the way the conversation was heading to.

Externally though, she looked at her son calmly until he calmed and turned to look at her, pleadingly.

A raised eyebrow was her only response.

With one last long groan, Draco turned fully towards him and sighed.

“What would you like to know, Mother?”

“I’m glad you asked Draco.” Her son rolled his eyes and she failed to contain her giggles.

“How long have you admired Heir Black?”

Draco sputtered as he stared at her with wide eyes.

“Wha-What… I- How-. I don’t admire Pot-Black, mother. What- what do you mean?”

She stared blankly at her sputtering mess of a little dragon.

“Let me rephrase the question then, how long have you liked Heir Black?”

A red flush exploded across her son’s face as he suddenly quieted down.

“Draco?”, she asked as her son shifted uncomfortably, eyes looking anywhere else except her.

“Um- you… you’re alright with that?” her son asked, staring at her from under his lashes.

She sat there, stunned as her only son, the son she prayed to whatever deity and god there was in the universe to have, stared at her worriedly after he hesitantly asked her the question.

“Am I-” she cut herself off as she gently laid her hand on top of Draco’s fidgeting one.

“Dragon, look at me.” She demanded albeit gently.

Her son’s grey eyes met her own, shock clear as day in those orbs. She must admit though, she hasn’t called him that for a long time, not since he started Hogwarts.

“I’m more than alright with that, Dragon. Whatever you want, whatever makes you happy, I will always be alright with it.”

“Even if I fancy blokes?” the soft almost childlike way her son asked that question was what broke Narcissa, and she quickly drew Draco into a tight hug, clasping her son close to her as much as possible.

It cemented her earlier thoughts that she might’ve pushed Draco into being an adult too early when her son first stiffened in her hold before eagerly melting into the hug, clearly craving the attention that was so rarely given to him.

“Even if you fancy whatever magical being there is out there, Dragon; I’ll always be alright with it.” She murmured soothingly.

She felt her son let out a deep breath before fully relaxing into her hold.

“Although, I must draw the line for a dementor Dragon. That’s just crossing the line for me.” She shivered at the thought of those dark flying beings.

Draco let out a laugh and pulled slightly away from her, raising an eyebrow.

“Mother, I have better tastes than choosing a dementor.”

She let out a soft laugh as he brushed some wayward bangs from her son’s forehead.

“So, does that mean Heir Black is to your ‘taste’?”, she couldn’t help teasing.

Her son once again flushed in embarrassment at her words.

“Mother.”

“Does this mean your father and I have to draw up a betrothal contract for you?”

“ _Mother._ ” Her son whined.

She let out another laugh at her son’s expense.

Her mirth however was short-lived as she saw her son rapidly paling.

“Dragon?”, she asked worriedly.

“Oh Merlin, Father! What- what is he going to say? Is he- mother! Mother don’t let him disown me! I beg you!” Draco asked, clearly in panic.

What in Merlin’s-

She looked so startled at her son’s panic. She knew that no matter what she said, Draco will always have doubts. Unless he hears it from the source him-

That’s right.

“Lucius!” she called out, knowing that wherever he was in the manor, he would always hear her and come running to her immediately.

She turned her attention to Draco who was looking at her fearfully.

Oh- she should’ve done that subtly, shouldn’t she?

“Calm down, Dragon. Your father’s not going to do anything.” She reassured him.

Draco still looked doubtful and scared. And that fear clearly doubled when Lucius walked through the door.

“What’s going on?”, Lucius asked as he saw his son’s expression. When he received no response from his son other than a panic-stricken look, he turned towards his wife.

Narcissa motioned him towards the other armchair in the room and he immediately went and sat down, confused and worried about the whole situation.

“Draco?” he asked.

Draco flinched as he spoke, further confusing him.

Narcissa gently shook his head and laid her hand on Draco’s tightly clenched ones.

“Draco seems to think that we have an issue with him liking wizards. Specifically, he thinks that you will disown him over this.” She spoke bluntly.

She felt Draco stiffen beside her and saw him looking at her with betrayal from the corner of her eyes.

“What?!” Lucius exclaimed loudly, too shocked to be bothered by proper pureblood etiquette at the moment.

Draco hunched over himself, body strung up tightly.

Narcissa leaned over and smacked Lucius’s arm lightly. “You’re not helping Lucius!”

He rubbed at the smarting spot on his arm as he looked at her incredulously.

She gestured subtly towards Draco and looked at him intently, elegant eyebrow raised.

He let out a deep sigh before slowly standing up, steeling himself mentally as he walked towards his son.

His son who was slowly curling into himself the closer he walked towards him.

It was at this moment that Lucius realized he had more of his father than he realized.

He was scared of Abraxas and he vowed to himself that whatever happens he would never let his child fear him the way he feared his father before.

With the way Draco was acting right now, it seemed he had failed.

Spectacularly

With a sad look, he knelt in front of his son, hand gently laid on top of platinum blond hair so similar to his own, and whispered, “Dragon, will you look at me?”

Draco stopped trembling at his gentle words, and if he’d reckon it was his use of his old childhood nickname that actually shocked his son.

“I… know that I might not have been the best father that I could have been to you. I admit that I might’ve pushed you to be something you weren’t ready for… something you were not.” Lucius paused and let out a deep sigh, seeking his son’s wide grey eyes. “But through all that, Draco, you are my son. My pride and my heir. Nothing can change that. And I apologize that I made you think otherwise.”

Draco slowly relaxed and looked at him with watery eyes. “Even if I fancy blokes?” he whispered softly.

It was that voice that broke Lucius’s heart into tiny pieces. It made his son appear younger, smaller and more vulnerable to him. And it brought back a fond memory of a tiny six year old Draco sat on his lap, a stuffed magical dragon clutched tightly to his chest as he looked up at him with wide eyed admiration. It was best to remind himself that Draco was not that much older than the first years that enter Hogwarts, that he might’ve pushed his son to grow up much faster than he should have.

But now that the dangers around them seemed to dwindle, it might be time for him to be a little lax around his son.

He gave a little huff of amusement before pulling his son gently into his arms.

“Even then, Dragon.” He said softly.

Draco stiffened at first not used to his father’s affection so freely given, not since before Hogwarts.

But the feeling of those arms around him reminded him why he sought his father’s approval so much.

The warmth, the firmness and the safety he felt in these arms took him back to his childhood, back to when things were simpler.

He had missed his father.

With that thought in mind, he eagerly returned his father’s hug; clutching at the back of his father’s robes tightly.

And Narcissa watched this scene with tears in her eyes, one hand pressed lightly at her lips and the other laid gently on top of her chest.

Her family was now finally and truly united.

And she vowed to keep it that way-

No matter what.

Lucius pulled away first and gently carded his fingers through Draco’s hair.

“So which wizard’s family am I writing up a Betrothal Contract to?”

He heard Narcissa let out a small giggle as Draco sputtered in his arms, fully drawing back from the hug with his face flushed red.

“F-father!”

He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Draco flushed even darker and kept silent, throwing Narcissa pleading looks.

“Come sit, Lucius. It seems we have a lot to talk about.”

He felt his magic weakening.

He felt it deep within his core.

It was all that blasted boy’s fault.

If he didn’t break off his seal and had his core released, then he could’ve continued to siphon off from the boy’s own core.

But now that he had no connection to the boy, he felt his magic rapidly dwindling. And for the first time in thirteen years, he felt his age.

With how fast his magic was leaving his body, he estimated that he’s probably not going to last until the end of the year. There was the opening of classes to think about. He cursed silently at the thought of entertaining itty bitty powerless little first years. He couldn’t even use their cores for himself since they were all underdeveloped still.

He sat back, his high back chair cradling his weary body, and crossed his arms over his chest, eyebrows furrowing deep in thought.

If he wanted to win the war, if he wanted to use the boy for his greater good, he had to somehow find something to fuel his depleted magic. The question was, where could he find a reservoir full of unfiltered magic?

A beat of silence passed before a manic grin spread across his face, clear even through the disheveled tangle of his beard.

Reservoir- why hasn’t he thought about this before? Could he be going senile? But no- he shook his head. He was the great Albus Dumbledore, the only wizard Voldemort fears, the leader of the Light. Some might include defeater of Grindelwald onto the list but he had always skipped over that one. It wasn’t something he was proud of; it wasn’t something to celebrate. He wasn’t going senile though.

No, that was impossible.

He was powerful, all encompassing.

Nothing can bring him down, not even that blasted brat.

With a satisfied air around him, he stood and left his office, heading straight towards Hogwarts ward room. The ritual might need a few sacrifices but he had a pair in mind lying still in the dungeons. And if the wards surrounding Hogwarts lose its potency who can pin it on him? True, it might cause lasting damage to the younger students but it was a small price to pay for the betterment of his ideal world.

Yes, his ideal world.

And with fleeting thoughts of what the world would be like under his rule, Albus Dumbledore entered the heavily guarded ward room, and when he came out there a few moments later a little frazzled no one was there to see.

No one was there to see him running amok, almost flying off his feet in his haste to reach the bottom dungeons.

No one was there to see utter panic flitter across his face as he was welcomed with a silent and empty dungeon cell.

Argus Filch however heard a demented scream echo across the castle as he walked through the empty hallways with Mrs. Norris. He stopped in his tracks as the screams continued, each one more broken and madder than the ones before. As it tapered off, he shrugged his shoulders and continued on.

Might have been one of the ghosts having one of their ghostly fits.

They’d get over it.

Harry walked through the hallways, looking at the paintings and décor that littered the manor here and there. Admittedly, the Malfoys really had good taste. They were able to flaunt their wealth without being gaudy with all of it. He wasn’t sight-seeing though. He was actually trying to look for the library.

Trying was the keyword here.

He wasn’t lost, nope.

The manor was just huge, so he was just directionally challenged. That was it. He wasn’t lost or anything.

A few minutes and two dead ends later he let out a frustrated sigh and leaned against the wall.

He was lost.

He should have listened more when his Father was giving him directions. But no, he was more interested with the way he was called son earlier. And look where that got him.

He let out a sigh and pushed off the wall, planning to go around again and look for the library when the wall behind him shifted and shimmered a little.

He stared curiously as the shimmering died down and a wide double door replaced the wall.

Huh. It shouldn’t have shocked him really. Of course, the Malfoys would add an additional protection to their library. He should have known that nobody can just waltz in and grab a book from them; who knows what one can find inside.

With a little shake of his head, he pushed open the door and entered.

He resisted the urge to drop his jaw in shock at the mere size of the room. Rows upon rows of books lined the space, spanning from the ceiling to the floor. Scattered throughout the area were sofas and chairs, some cushions also lined the floor, for those who chose to peruse and read the book in the library.

“Splendid, isn’t it?” a voice suddenly spoke up, making him jump as he whirled around in shock.

Shocked green eyes met startling red ones.

“Wha-”, he eloquently mumbled.

The man in front of him looked familiar. Tall, lean, pale, dark hair falling smoothly across his forehead. He seemed familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger as to why.

The stranger gestured around him with one graceful hand.

“The library. It truly is outstanding isn’t it?”

That deep baritone sent shivers up Harry’s back, causing his hair to stand on end.

He gulped and nodded. “Yeah. I-it is.”

The other stared at him for a few moments before looking down at the book spread open in front of him.

Harry knew a dismissal when he saw one so he turned away from the stranger and headed into the rows of books, unaware of red eyes following his move.

A few moments later Harry emerged with a stack of books in his arms. Heading over to one of the desks, he sat down and began skimming through the one on top. Shuffling from beside him caught his attention and he raised his head, only to find the stranger from before standing beside his desk, looking at the titles on his stack of books with something close to disdain.

“What?” Harry asked, a little defensive at the man’s look.

The man said nothing and instead disappeared into the bookshelves.

Curiously, Harry abandoned the book he was reading on the table and craned his head, trying to catch a glimpse of the man. As soon as said man appeared though, Harry straightened and looked down at the book in his hands.

The book that was swiftly plucked from his hold and replaced by a thicker old tome.

“Hey! I was reading that!” he exclaimed.

He looked up at the man who shot him a raised eyebrow. “Were you really though? No matter.” The man quickly added and raised a hand as Harry opened his mouth to retort. “If you’re reading up about the Dark Arts this one, I believe would be to your liking. The ones you chose are somewhat…” the corner of the man’s lips raised into a sneer, “biased to the nature of the Dark Arts.”

Red eyes found his own again and held his gaze.

“This old tome would serve you well.”

The man’s voice was oddly soothing, almost hypnotic and Harry found himself at a loss for words. He instead looked down at the tome curiosity peaked.

“Oh.” He ran his fingers down the book and flipped it open before raising his head. “Um… Thank you.”

The man gave a small nod in return and straightened.

“If you’ll excuse me then.”

With those words, the man swept out of the library silently, footsteps so light you could barely hear them. Harry followed his exit with his eyes before turning his attention to the tome in his hands.

It was a few pages in when he suddenly dropped the tome with a sharp gasp.

He finally knew why the man seemed familiar.

He finally figured out why those red eyes seemed to call out to him.

He had met the owner of said red eyes before, albeit a couple years younger than he was now.

He had met him as a memory.

A memory from an old diary.

“Fuck, I just met Voldemort.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurrah for heart warming Malfoy family interaction! <3 Idk, in my head the Malfoys truly did care for each other. It was just the threat of Voldemort that had all of them stressed AF. And now that Voldie's not so mouldy, the family can finally relax! ^.^  
> Anyways, did you like this chapter? Let me know in the comment section! ^^  
> As always, See you next update! <3 love you guys!


	8. A Trip Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! It's been so long but here's a new chapter! Real life just caught me off guard, is all. I apologized for the delayed update! ><
> 
> Just a warning, this chapter contains an attempted sexual assault. If that triggers you or makes you uncomfortable, skip the part starting with this xxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxx line break, and start again after this line break oooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo. 
> 
> I was inspired by a comment by Dophne, saying that they wanted to see how Sirius and Severus's story came about. I planned to show it through flashbacks but I thought, why not just make a whole chapter about it, and add some through flashbacks as well. ^^  
> Hope you guys don't mind this sorta flashback chapter.

_The first time Sirius saw him, he found himself frozen with eyes wide and jaw dropped._

_Which was a really bad thing to do when standing in front of a bubbling cauldron._

_He only had a few seconds to spare as someone pushed his head downwards, his body immediately following, before a loud explosion rocked the potions classroom._

_He coughed into his arms as dust and a few debris landed on top of him._

_At the back of his mind though, he wondered why the blast sounded small compared to the feel of the blast’s ricochet. James must have sent up a shield charm over our work bench._

_He let out one final cough before getting hauled to his feet. He looked up to see Professor Slughorn’s worried gaze and James’s shocked eyes._

_“Mr. Black, are you unharmed? Do you need to see Madame Pomfrey?” Slughorn asked worriedly, hands fluttering in front of him._

_Sirius shook his head as he patted his robes down, brushing off the dust from the blast._

_“Nah. I’m all good Professor. Don’t worry.” He said, grin wide and he turned his head, catching sight of black eyes glaring at him, a sneer of disdain on pink rosy lips._

_He raised an eyebrow in question and opened his mouth to speak. Just at that moment though, the bell rang, marking the end of class._

_“Alright! For those who successfully brewed their potion, bottle them up, label them, and place them on my table. For those who didn’t, meet me over the weekend to redo your potion.”_

_Sirius collected his things amidst the reverberating groans from all over the room._

_“You okay, mate?” James asked from beside him._

_He nodded with a grin. “Yeah. Not even a scratch. Don’t worry about it, James.”_

_James nodded with his own grin as they both headed towards the door._

_Sirius turned his head towards James with an excited yell. “Oh! Thanks for putting up the shield charm by the way. Saved my hide from the blast there.”_

_“Wha-” James started, a confused expression on his face._

_Sirius threw an arm around James’ shoulders. “Could’ve ended up worse without you James. I owe you.”_

_“Bu-”_

_Black eyes once again caught his own grey eyes and this time Sirius felt a flare of irritation at the glare thrown his way._

_“What is your problem?!”_

_Heads turned towards them at his yell, including the owner of the glaring black eyes._

_Short hair, cut to just below his jaw, immaculate green lined robes, hook nose and black eyes._

_Merlin-if he wasn’t such a grouch, he would’ve been gorgeous. But the thing was, he was really pushing on Sirius’s nerves right now._

_The Slytherin, judging from the green tie, stared at him down his nose._

_And boy did that rile Sirius up. He had enough of people looking down at him through their nose at home. He didn’t need that here._

_“My problem is that your incompetence almost cost me my potion earlier. If you have no regards for your own and your…” he looked at James with a sneer, “partner’s work, then you ought to make sure your failure does not spread to the others around you.”, he drawled out, voice carrying over to them._

_There was a beat of silence before Sirius lunged at the other, a loud yell on his lips._

_No words were exchanged between them, only the sounds of fists hitting flesh accompanied by the goading of the onlookers echoed around them._

_Just as he gained the upper hand having pinned the Slytherin on the ground as he straddled his legs, someone yelled a spell that had him whirling around._

_He saw a flash of red and knew no more._

_If someone told James that he would one day end up defending a Slytherin, he would’ve hexed you black and blue._

_As it stands though, he was actively trying to pull Sirius away from the short-haired Slytherin he was throwing hands with, calling out his name in between. He let out a yelp as his foot got tangled and he fell backwards, hitting his head on the ground. The force of the fall had him feeling a little woozy, so it took him a while to realize someone had their wand out and pointed right at his friend. He opened his mouth to yell out a warning all a little too late as the red spell of the stunner hit Sirius dead on._

_He watched with wide eyes as his friend fell off the Slytherin and landed heavily on his side. He scrambled clumsily to his feet and rushed towards Sirius immediately pulling his unconscious friend in his arms. Knowing there was no use in attempting to rouse his friend he raised his head and yelled for someone to call Madame Pomfrey. When a few students rushed to do as he yelled, he whirled his head around and landed on the Slytherin being helped up by his housemates._

_He caught sight of the one who cast eh Stunner and was about to catch his attention but was cut off with the arrival of the mediwitch._

_Everything was a blur after that and the next thing he knew he was sat at Sirius’s bedside in the Hospital Wing, waiting for his friend to regain consciousness. He wasn’t left waiting for long as a few minutes later Sirius began groaning, shifting in his bed._

_He sat forward as Sirius began to wake up._

_“Wh-what? Where am I?” Sirius moved to sit up before James gently pushed him down._

_“Don’t get up yet. You were hit head on by a Stunner, take it easy.”_

_Sirius fell back with a groan and hissed as pain bloomed from every part of his body._

_“Bloody hell! Hurts!”_

_“Well, I should think so, Mr. Black. Seeing as your covered in bruises.” Madame Pomfrey said as she bustled around his bed, preparing various vials and creams. “Merlin knows you’d be black and blue too!”, she added as she pointed her wand at Sirius._

_His friend only grinned unapologetically at the mediwitch. “I could only imagine what he looks like right now. I gave as good as I got.”_

_Poppy only shook his head at Sirius’s words, exasperated no doubt. She moved quickly as she made Sirius drink his potions while she applied the various creams on his bruises. As soon as that was done, she collected the vials, gave Sirius one of her looks and bustled off towards her office, leaving the two alone._

_As soon as her office door closed, Sirius turned his attention towards him._

_“Fancy pranking someone, James? Specifically, someone in the snake den?”_

_“You know I’m always gonna be up to prank someone Pads. But I think I’m going to have to pass this time and change your mind. Especially if you’re pranking who I think you’re pranking.”_

_Sirius pouted at him and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why not? That git deserves it.”_

_James looked at Sirius with wide eyes. “Deserves what, actually?”_

_“The git kept shooting me glares all throughout Potions. He insulted me after too! You were there!” Sirius added, furious at the other. “He didn’t have to rub it in. I know I fucked up the potion.” He blew out a breath, ruffling a few strands if hair off his face. He nodded once at James and let out a small smile._

_“If it weren’t for your shield charm, I might’ve ended up worse though. Quick thinking there, Prongs.”_

_James only looked at him in confusion. “You said that earlier too. That thing about the shield charm.” James shook his head. “I didn’t put up that Shield Charm, Sirius.”_

_Sirius arms fell from his chest. “Oh. Then ole Slugs is faster than he looks, eh?”_

_James shook his head again. “Sirius, no. Professor Slughorn didn’t cast the charm either. He was too far and too engrossed in the others to have noticed our potion.”_

_“Who cast the charm then?”_

_James looked at Sirius. “The Slytherin you beat up. Severus Snape. He was the one who threw up the spell, Siri.”_

_Sirius looked at James silently before bursting out loud barking laughs._

_It was James’s turn to cross his arms over his chest as he looked at Sirius with a raised brow. Unimpressed, he watched as his best friend clutched his stomach in laughter._

_As Sirius tittered off into faint chuckles, he turned his attention back to James._

_“Are you quite done?”_

_“Oh, that was the best one mate. Cracked me up, it did!”_

_He fell silent as James kept silent._

_“You mean…. You weren’t kidding?”_

_“Siri, I might joke about a lot of things but I do know when to be serious.” He saw a grin forming on Sirius’s face as he made to open his mouth, “Don’t you dare say what I think you’re going to say Sirius. I meant it.” he hastily added. Satisfied that he made his point, he leaned back and watched as Sirius sulked, a deep frown on his face._

_“You better not continue that prank Siri. I mean it.”_

_Sirius blew out a breath and laid back, a look of resignation on his face._

_“Fine. Just this once.”_

_James nodded and smiled at his friend. “Good.”_

_“Where is the Snake anyway? I don’t see him here.”_

_“He’s with Filch, serving detention with the one who sent you that stunner. Professor Slughorn only saw you stunned on the ground and had Filch at ‘em.”_

_His interest was piqued when he saw guilt flash across Sirius’ eyes at his words. Intrigued, he kept silent._

_“W-what did you say his name was again?”_

_James felt a grin form on his face as he watched a light flush form on his friend’s cheeks. It went unnoticed however as Sirius kept his eyes averted._

_This, thought James, might be more entertaining than his pranks._

_“His name is Severus Snape.”_

_Severus grumbled under his breath as he entered the common room, Avery doing the same beside him. He collapsed onto one of the many couches around the fire and let out a sigh. That squib Filch really did a number on them. His back still ached with how long they were told to plow the field behind the greenhouse._

_A light growl from beside him broke his musings and he turned his head to see Avery clenching his hands into fists with a glare on his face._

_“That blasted Gryffindor landed us in detention!” he gritted out through clenched teeth._

_Severus rolled his eyes and turned away from his housemate, internally sneering at Avery’s immaturity. Opposite to his housemate, he knew when to agree that he was at fault. He just didn’t say it out loud._

_He startled when a hand landed on his nape, fingers playing with his shorter hairs. He felt the hair on his arms rise up when that same hand caressed the junction where his neck met his shoulder. He jumped up in alarm and whirled around to fix Avery with a glare._

_“What in Merlin’s name are you doing?” he hissed out._

_Avery had a smirk on his face, hand still raised into the space where Severus was._

_“What do you mean? It was just a little caress, nothing big.”_

_“Well, stop. I don’t like it.”_

_Avery looked him over from top to bottom in what he thought was sultry, but instead felt slimy and gross to Severus._

_“What? Don’t I deserve to destress after what that squib had us do?”, Avery sneered, before he leaned forward, smug smirk back on his lips. “In fact, don’t you think I deserve compensation for helping you out with Black earlier?”, he added reaching out to grab at Severus._

_A loud smack echoed in the common room as Severus slapped his hand away, a look of utter disgust on his face. “You pig.” He snapped out before turning around and heading towards the sleeping quarters._

_“I’ll have you Snape! And there will be nothing you can do about it!” he heard Avery call out as he entered the thankfully empty bedroom. He went directly to his bed, drew the curtains and set up his security wards around the bed. It never hurt to be safe. Especially when you’re rooming with a horny nutjob who thinks they’re entitled to his body. He shivered in disgust as he remembered how Avery had looked him over._

_It will never happen._

_He’ll make sure of it._

_If only Severus Snape really did ensure it, he might’ve been prepared for what will happen in the weeks to come._

_Sirius looked over James’s shoulder where he sat across from him in the great hall. His spot conveniently looking over the Slytherin table, specifically, looking over Severus Snape. He watched through his bangs as the other male simultaneously ate his breakfast while reading a thick book. Absently pushing around the food on his plate, he glanced up again to stare at the Slytherin just as the other brought his fork to his lips- and let it stay there. Absently biting at it as he focused solely on the book he was reading. Sirius gulped audibly at the sight._

_Oh, to be that fork._

_He let out a sigh before dragging his gaze upwards, locking into dark black eyes._

_Started, he dropped his fork and whipped his head away. Looking intensely at a plate of eggs instead._

_Chuckles from across him had him look up at an amused James._

_“You know, those eggs aren’t going to eat themselves no matter how hard you look at them.” He said with a teasing tone._

_“Shut up.”, he shot back with a blush._

_James laughed at him before turning his attention to the red-haired witch, Lily, beside him. The two of them getting together wasn’t a shock to the population of Hogwarts, regardless of what the pair thought. It was a long time coming, for sure. After dancing around each other since first year, after all the pranks, the arguments and the fights- the two FINALLY fessed up and got together._

_Now the two of them were sickeningly sweet with each other._

_Sirius was happy for the two of them, though. No matter how ant crawlingly sweet they were._

_Against his will, his eyes darted back towards the Slytherin table. His brows lowered when he saw Snape glaring at their table. Tracing the gaze, surprise shot through him when that glare landed on James and Lily._

_What the hell._

_He turned his attention back to Snape only to catch that glare shot at him instead._

_Pulling all his pureblood lessons to the front, he kept calm and only raised an eyebrow._

_The glare intensified before being cut by the loud flapping sounds of wings. Raising his head, he saw a flock of owls flying in through the great hall, dropping letters, packages, and papers here and there._

_Grabbing his own, he opened the Daily Prophet and started reading. A loud gasp had him raising his head to see Snape reading through a letter with growing fear and trepidation in his eyes. He saw a flash of panic across his face before Snape abruptly stood up and rushed out the great hall, letter grasped in a tightly clenched hand._

_Confused, Sirius observed the Slytherin table and caught a satisfied smirk on one student._

_The one who shot the stunner at him- Avery, lifted his goblet of pumpkin juice to his lips, gave off a wide grin before taking a long sip._

_Narrowing his eyes, he turned towards James._

_“Hey Prongs?”_

_James pulled his attention from Lily and looked at him. “Yeah Padfoot?”_

_“You up for a ‘walk’ tonight?”_

_James caught on immediately and let out a playful smirk._

_If only what they were about to discover was playful in itself, it wouldn’t have had to be such a haunting ‘walk’._

_Severus fought to keep his tears at bay as he rushed out of the great hall._

_Damn it._

_Damn it all to hell and back._

_Of all things, of all the god-forsaken things they could’ve held over his head- it had to be that!_

_That blasted bearer test just had to be it._

_He thought he had more time; he thought the goblins can give him more time._

_He reached the seventh floor and immediately walked back and front three times._

_He opened the door which appeared a few moments later, entered the room, and slammed it shut behind him._

_He took a deep breath and let his magic go._

_Blasts upon blasts of magic escaped his body causing the walls to explode. Things shattered left and right as he inhaled deeply. Debris flew all around him but he paid them no mind. His attention focused on the storm brewing inside of him. He brought his trembling hands to his clutch at his head._

_He opened his mouth and let out a scream._

_Anger_

_Pain_

_Terror_

_Panic_

_Hurt_

_He screamed it all out._

_Anger at his family for lugging him off like livestock._

_Pain that he was given only a short amount of time to stay free._

_Terror at what his life will be once everyone knows what he is._

_Panic at the thought of his freedom being taken from him, of being unable to do what he loves, unable to do whatever he wanted._

_Hurt that he was singled out to go through this._

_He fell to his knees, clutching at his arms, hugging himself, to keep himself from falling into pieces._

_Scream tapered off, he was left heaving, gasping for breath._

_He felt something wet on his cheeks, he raised his hands to his cheeks and realized they were tears._

_Tears- he was crying._

_As soon as he realized that the dam was broken._

_He collapsed to the ground, letting out choked sobs ang gasps as he let himself feel for the first time in a while._

_He hasn’t let himself feel anything- not since that fateful day when he found out he was a bearer._

_He knew by then that whatever freedom he had gained when his grandparents claimed him was going to get shorter. He begged, pleaded to the goblins to give him more time, to buy him more time. Just until he was seventeen, a legal adult in the Wizarding world. Just until after he graduated, when he could find a job, support himself, and most importantly so he could decline whatever contracts his grandparents would draw for him._

_And he knew- oh, he knew that when his status as a bearer reaches them that they would draw up contract after contract to vie him off to whoever pureblood heir reaches their standards._

_Standards that he had no say in._

_Standards that were now completely filled by his grandparents._

_A betrothal._

_Of all things, and of all people- it had to be him._

_He closed his eyes and let the tears fall._

_It might have been hours later, days or minutes, Severus didn’t know. He slowly sat up, the aches in his joints from being in the same position making itself known, and reached up to swipe at his face. He flinched when the rough fabric of his robes made contact with his tender eyes. Looking up, he saw the demolished state of the room. He wished for a comfortable room and in the blink of an eye, the room righted itself. A fireplace crackling in the corner, a plush armchair in front of it and a low table with a steaming mug of tea up top._

_Perfect_

_He slowly meandered towards the sea, sighing as his body sunk deeply into the cushions. Mulling, he brought the mug to his lips._

_Now that he was feeling better, his emotions sealed, he could think more clearly._

_The goblins wouldn’t sell him off, they weren’t one for gossip so they wouldn’t just tell people left and right. So clearly, someone tipped his grandparents about his status and they would have checked with the goblins who naturally would show them his documents. It was the only way they would have known. They never checked their papers at Gringotts regularly._

_The question was, who tipped them off?_

_He sat there in silence as he thought over the possibilities. Coming up blank he leaned back and let out a deep sigh. Shaking his head, he downed his mug of tea before he stood up. A quick tempus showed he had about thirty minutes left until curfew. Just enough time to get back to the dungeons._

_He’ll sleep on it; come morning his mind might come up with more sensible ideas._

_Severus was near the dungeon when he was unceremoniously pulled towards a dark hidden alcove. He let out a gasp as he was pushed roughly against the wall. A hand smacked against the wall, close to his head, caging him in._

_“Had a good break, Snape?”_

_He raised his head and glared._

_“Avery.” He drawled out. “What do you mean?”_

_Avery let out a smirk as he tilted his head. “Oh, pardon me. I might have used the wrong term. What I meant to ask was, did you enjoying having the last few hours of your freedom to yourself today? Merlin knows you’re not going to have any more of those in the future.”_

_Snape was silent for a moment before everything dawned on him. His eyes widened as he stared disbelievingly at Avery. “I-it was you! You told my grandparents! How did- how can y-” he stuttered._

_“Oh, it was all to easy. I mean after watching you for a few years now, I found some changes once you came back this year. Lither, more petite, widened hips,” he clicked his tongue. “It was obvious to me that you came back a bearer. So I waited for a formal announcement within the Pureblood circles of you new status, as well as the drawing up of your contracts.” He added before he shook his head. “Imagine my surprise when a few months into the new term and no news went out about you being a bearer. All those thoughts about you being given to another, kept me frustrated let me tell you. But then I got to thinking, what if they didn’t know about your status?”_

_“I’m not something to be given Avery!” he snarled out, darting to the left, aiming for the entrance._

_A hand shot out and grabbed him around the waist, spinning him backward. He found himself shoved back to the wall he was in before, now face forward. His hands were held to his sides by a strong grip and he felt Avery slink behind him, plastering his whole body to his back._

_“So I wrote a little letter you see, just an innocent one about the debt they owe my family and the interest it had accumulated over the years. Lo and behold, they instantly checked their accounts at Gringotts. And to their confusion, they found documents pertaining their only godson, documents they had no idea existed at all.” He breathed into his ear, the warm breath making him recoil in disgust._

_“What I wanted was for them to contact my family to set up a contract to settle their debts. But your idiotic grandparents set up a meeting with the other families. To parade you off to others, hoping for a contract that can benefit them most.”_

_Severus struggled against his hold, pulling at his hands and pushing off the wall to no use. Avery was larger, heavier and had a strong grip._

_“So I thought, why not make it so no other man can have you? Why not make it so you will be given to me?”_

_Panic shot through his system as those words registered in his mind. He doubled his efforts, praying that it wasn’t what he thought it was- that Avery wouldn’t push through with what he had in mind._

_xxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxx_

_A low moan cam form behind him before he felt hips press against his backside._

_“Yea… wriggle around like that. You make me so hard.”_

_Severus froze. He gagged as he felt Avery rutting against him._

_“Please stop. Stop it Avery.”_

_“I’ll only stop when I’m sure my seed had taken.” He growled into his ears as he rutted harder against him._

_Severus opened his mouth, ready to scream when a large hand covered his mouth muffling his screams. Both his hands were held together behind him in one of Avery’s as the man behind huffed._

_Sheer terror encompassed him as his hand was let go and his robes pushed up over his back, his pants pulled down enough to show his bottom. He pushed at Avery’s chest, but it was like pushing at a wall with how it didn’t affect the other man. Muffled screams came from his as he doubled his struggles, pushing and pulling, even clawing at the other._

_He let out choked sobs when nothing happened._

_A scream escaped him when a blunt object pushed at his opening._

_“Take a deep breath, baby. This won’t hurt.” He leaned down towards his ears. “For me.”_

_Just as Avery was about to thrust, a rage filled roar broke through them and he felt the body behind him falling away. He fell to the floor, on shaky knees as he struggled to pull his robes down. He didn’t notice the tears that fell down his cheeks, nor the violent tremors that wracked through his body. He jumped and crawled back as a gentle hand laid itself on his shoulder._

_He raised his head and met hazel eyes and unruly black hair._

_oooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo_

_James was expecting a night of pranking and adventures. Of setting up traps and plotting more areas on their map._

_He was expecting a calm, relaxing and carefree run through the castle._

_What he didn’t expect was to see a fellow student pushed against the wall, struggling and pushing as another stood behind him, hips poised to violate. At the sight of it he stood frozen in shock. He could hear the muffled screams but couldn’t push his feet to move forward._

_Instead, he saw a black blur rush past him, roaring in anger as he pulled the student bodily off the one on the wall. The pulled body flew a couple steps away, landing on the ground. Sirius soon followed the descent, landing heavily on top of the body. It was the sight of Sirius’s rage filled face that snapped him out of it. He shook his head and turned his attention to the other male. Recognition flashed through him as he saw the same face Sirius had been looking at for a few weeks._

_He slowly walked towards Snape, unlatching his robes as he went. He saw the other struggling to cover his lower body as sobs escaped his lips. He reached out and gently laid his hand on Snape’s shoulder only to pull it back when the other male flinched violently. He watched with sad eyes as Snape scrambled backwards fear in his eyes before he raised his head._

_“Snape. You’re safe. I’m not going to hurt you.” He spoke calmly. He raised his robes to show Snape before gesturing it towards him. “Here. Take this. To… um…” he gulped as the reality of what he saw finally sunk in. “To cover up.” He added softly._

_Snape looked at him with wide eyes before looking at the robe. It was longer than his own which can cover him up more compared to his own. He slowly reached forward and James fleetingly saw the red marks around the other’s wrists before it was snatched backwards along with the robe. He turned his head to give Snape some privacy as he pulled it around him. His eyes went to Sirius as he rained punches on the male- Avery he noticed, until blood fell from his nose. Rage radiated from Sirius in waves, as he sat atop the other male, a rabid snarl on his face. Snape sidled up silently beside him, hand clutching the lapels of the robe tightly. James watched him from the corner of his eyes, observing the blank look in his eyes._

_“He’s going to kill him at that rate.” Snape murmured softly from behind him._

_James turned towards the two males on the ground. His eyes glinted madly when he noticed Avery’s unconscious form. “He’d deserve it, the disgusting pig.”_

_Snape whirled his head towards him, a look of shock on his face. “Wh-”_

_“Purebloods should know better than to force themselves on another. As it was even in the olden days.”_

_Snape kept silent but turned towards the fight- if you could still call it that. He seemed indecisive at first before standing upright, steeling himself and walked towards them. James watched him silently, curious about what the other male will do._

_Snape walked towards Sirius before hesitantly reaching forward and laying his hand on top of Sirius’s shoulder. The touch stilled Sirius though he didn’t move from his position. Snape slowly knelt down and grabbed the hand clutching at Avery’s collar and gently unclenched them. He cradled the hand gently and looked up at Sirius with glazed eyes. As soon as they made eye contact, Sirius visibly calmed down._

_Something stirred in James’s mind, something long learned, something deeply ingrained in his mind since he was little. He took a step forward as Snape took his wand out and pointed it towards the cuts on Sirius’s knuckles. Rushing forward, as much as he can without spooking Snape, he laid his hand over the wand, lowering it._

_“Are you sure? Once you do this there will be no turning back.” He said seriously._

_Glazed eyes turned towards him which solidified his decision._

_“Up you go then, Snape. Let’s get you to the Hospital wing.” He said gently._

_Snape turned his gaze on Sirius, who held his hands gently in both of his own._

_James smiled sadly before urging Sirius to stand. “Come on Padfoot. Help me get him to Madame Pomfrey.” He said pulling at Sirius’s arm. Thankfully, his friend stood up, hauling Snape up as he did so._

_Snape clutched at Sirius’s arms so tight his knuckles turned white._

_James looked down at Avery’s unconscious form with a sneer before pointing his wand at him. With a quick spell, the body floated quietly after them as they headed up to the Hospital wing._

_James couldn’t believe what had happened tonight. To see someone almost violated, and Snape to boot had definitely shaken him. But not as shocked as when Snape almost initiated a bonding contract with Sirius._

_Anyone brought up in the Old Ways knows that when a wizard defends another and emerged either a winner or a loser, then the defendee acknowledges their efforts. And usually the one being defended ‘shows’ their appreciation by healing and cleaning the wounds of the defender. And depending on the compatibility of their magics and the feelings of both parties, it usually ended up in a betrothal contract._

_Which Snape could have initiated, which boggled him._

_Usually magic recognizes the two people that are taking part of the contract. Rare was it for two males to be in it, unless one was a bearer, a wizard capable of getting pregnant. So, for him to feel the beginning strands of magic between the two was confusing to say the least._

_Unless-_

_His eyes strayed to the two males beside him and stared inquisitively at Snape._

_Unless one was a bearer._

_It would make sense, how the two of them were drawn towards each other._

_They themselves might not recognize it, but their magic sure does._

_As they entered the hospital wing with the mediwitch bustling around them, James stored that knowledge at the back of his mind and vowed to get to deeper into it._

_He stared down at the intertwined hands of the two males, as they sat on the bed side by side._

_For these two people whose fate magic decided to be woven into one._

Sirius blinked awake sleepily as the light from the windows hit his eyes.

He let out a content sigh as arms wrapped around him tightly as someone nuzzled into his neck.

“Had a good dream?” his husband murmured, voice husky with sleep.

Sirius nodded as he kissed Severus on the forehead. “Very.”

“What about?”

“How James got the two of us together.”

Severus let out a chuckle as he pulled away slightly to look up into his eyes. “You mean how he basically pushed our magics together?” he teased.

“I’m glad he did. If he didn’t, I wouldn’t have you in my arms right now.”

“I’m glad you did ask me too. My magic was singing for you and I got scared when you didn’t do anything about it. I was scared you didn’t feel it.”

Sirius tightened his hold around his husband. “To be honest, I was an idiot who wanted to wait for the right time, not noticing that anytime with you was the right time.”

“You’re right about the idiot part.”

“Hey!”

Severus let out a laugh and Sirius was left speechless at the sight of that smile. He loves that smile; he’ll do whatever it takes to keep that smile on his beloved’s face.

“Just keeping me beside you is enough.”

He must have said that out loud then.

Embarrassed he flushed red and buried his nose into Severus’s silky hair.

“You’re stuck with me; you won’t get rid of me that easily. I’m in it forever.”

“Forever?”

“‘til death do us part. And even then, I’ll look for you in the afterlife so we can be together even then.” Sirius vowed.

Severus let out a sigh and Sirius felt him smile into his chest.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter, ain't it? Although this was a flashback chapter, I hope you guys still like it! <3
> 
> Let me know in the comment section! ^^
> 
> See you next update! <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! <3 A second chapter for the week! Just a little something for you continuous support! I love all of you! Especially to those that leave encouraging comments as well as those that tickle my mind about things that I possibly have left out in the chapter! <3 OF COURSE I STILL LOVE ALL OF YOU! (=>.<=) Even those that just read the chapter! <3 The fact that you read this story warms my heart all the same. <3 <3 I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU! <3 ^_^
> 
> Now, onto the story! Hope you guys enjoy! ^.^

Albus sat in his office. If one could see him now, there would be no trace of the godfatherly image he portrayed to the Wizarding world. All they would see was an angry sneer that almost seemed to disfigure his face similar to the gargoyles that guarded his office.

Better put, Albus Dumbledore was mad. Enraged, even.

He had planned to use the magics of both Potters under the dungeons as a way to divert the magic surrounding the ward room. He had planned to offset the magic to an outlet so he can siphon directly off the wards. The Potters were strong enough to handle the backlash of the magic, inadvertently causing them to end up as human canisters.

He was ready to sacrifice them both; for his greater good of course.

But now all those plans were ruined.

All because those blasted Potters escaped!

He slammed his hand down on his desk, rattling a few of the items there. Surely though, they weren’t able to do that alone. They were supposed to stay catatonic, useless until he had use for their magic. A tic formed on his jaw with how hard he had clenched them.

Someone must have taken them.

Someone who could bypass the wards.

Someone who Hogwarts recognize as part of the castle.

He straightened in his seat as it hit him.

An heir- a Hogwarts heir has the ability to bypass any and all wards or enchantments around the castle.

He cursed as he realized who had taken them.

For no other wizard sane and alive knew of his captives.

All but one.

He paled as soon as realization set in.

He had broken free.

He was free and he knew.

Albus swiped his hand though his desk, letting out a loud roar as he did so. Glasses, books, and parchments crashed on the floor at his anger. He panted raggedly as fear shot up his spine.

No. Tom Riddle shouldn’t have escaped his bonds. He doused him with enough potions and enough spells that he had ensured himself will last until his death. Some of those potions were even given to him when he was nothing but a wide eyed second year.

It couldn’t have lost effectiveness! He was Albus Dumbledore, for Merlin’s sake! He was strong- the Defender of the Light! His magic wouldn’t have failed him just like that!

He must find a way. A way to strengthen his own magic, a way to have control over the magic of the wards. He needed it. He needed the magic to win the upcoming war. Especially if he had two other opponents; as opposed to the one he thought the boy would sacrifice himself for.

He sat down heavily as hi thoughts raced a mile a minute.

A few moments later, a demented grin grew on his face as a plan formed in his mind.

Yes, oh yes. That would have to do.

A little sacrifice is needed but that’s alright.

A justified means to an end, if you ask him.

Anything and everything have a reason- especially for his better good.

He leaned back contently with a laugh and popped a lemon drop in his mouth.

Yes- all will be well soon enough.

Oh, if only Albus Dumbledore was a little bit saner, he would have realized why exactly Tom Riddle managed to break through his hold. He said it so himself. Defender of _Light._ If that were true, his magic wouldn’t have weakened. But the fact is- his magic was slowly turning dark. With how much and how often he had casted some borderline dark spells as well as those dark itself. It was bound to happen sooner or later. But the fact that he was slowly losing his grip on his sanity had sped up his magic’s deterioration.

Tom watched with bated breath as the two people lying on the bed slowly stirred into consciousness.

Beside him, he felt the same anticipation radiating off of Lucius Malfoy.

A low groan caught their attention as James Potter slowly opened his eyes. He blinked them a few times, appearing disoriented before jumping upright, a look of fear etched on his face.

“Haris! He’s going to take Haris!” he called out in panic.

Tom approached the bed, making shushing noises as he reached out to the panicked male.

“It’s alright James. You’re okay. You’re safe now.” He murmured softly.

James turned unseeing eyes towards him. “Safe?”

Tom nodded and gestured towards the bed. “You and Lily both.”

James whipped his head around and visibly relaxed as he caught sight of his wife.

“And Haris? Did he- is he… is he alright?” he asked softly.

“Yes. The boy is fine. He’s with his parents.”

James breathed out a sigh of relief as his eyes slowly cleared up. Shaking his head lightly, he turned towards them, slight recognition in his eyes. “T-Tom?” he turned his head and saw Lucius standing a few steps away. “Lucius?”

“Welcome back, James.”

James looked at him in shock, disbelief clear on his face. “Are you back? Are you truly back?” he asked shakily, voice trembling.

Tom smiled sadly. “For good, my friend.”

He looked on with regret as James clutched Lily close to him. “No more hunting muggleborns?”

Tom shook his head. “No more hunting James. You know that’s not what I really wanted.”

James relaxed and brushed hair away from Lily’s face. Tom saw his eyes soften as Lily slowly opened her eyes, green eyes that sparkled as she stared up at James.

“Hey Lily-flower.” James whispered, voice breaking halfway.

Tom felt his throat tighten at the sight in front of him. At the sight of two people who got caught in between two sides of the war, whose only mistake was to feel too much- to love too much. He remembered how they fought so hard for his cause, how they defended him until the end, even when he was slowly succumbing to his forced insanity. And how they long and hard they had suffered from his mistakes. The guilt ate at him as he looked at the love being exchanged from two people finally being reunited after being under someone’s thumb for what seemed like an eternity. Then and there he vowed to himself to correct his mistakes and make everything right again. He vowed to do everything in his power to protect the people he cared about- to protect the love he could see surrounding the people around him.

Sniffing came from beside him and he turned incredulously to see the usually stoic and cold Malfoy Patriarch wiping tears from his eyes as he looked at the two Potters reuniting.

He raised an eyebrow at Lucius. “Are you crying?”

“No!” the blond gasped out. “It- there’s j-just something in my eyes.” He added as he hastily wiped at his eyes.

“I think his tears will sell by a lot.” A soft voice made them both turn their attention to the bed.

“Everyone knows the tears of an Ice King costs a fortune.”

Lucius burst into tears as the teasing voice of Lily Potter reached his ears.

Tom could only rub his old friend’s back with a chuckle as the two Potters laughed from the bed.

Yes.

He’ll do everything to keep this family together- his family.

The mannequins exploded in quick succession as he pointed his wand at them silently. He twisted and shot a stunning spell at another mannequin creeping from behind. The strength of his spell blasted it a few feet away before it stayed still. He breathed out deeply and straightened, reeling his magic in.

He felt more than saw his father approach him and he turned around to stare at him.

His father laid a hand on his shoulder as a proud look was directed at him. He felt himself flush at the stare, still not used to the look.

“You did well.”

He couldn’t help it; he puffed his chest out and grinned.

“But you and I both know; you have more spells you want to try out. Don’t you, son?” his father asked, raising a knowing eyebrow.

He knew it. He can’t hide anything from his father. Even when his father was out for his blood, Severus always seemed to know if he was up to something.

Even now that he realized he was his son, nothing seemed to have changed on that note.

He didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about that.

“Well…” he looked down shyly.

A hand under his chin had him look up into his father’s eyes. “Never be ashamed at wanting to learn new things Haris.”

“Even if what I wanted to learn are considered dark spells?” he asked cautiously.

“I fear that’s where you are wrong son.”

Harry froze at his father’s words. Scared that he had offended him.

“No, no not like that son.” Severus rushed to add as he saw his son’s face rapidly paling.

“Oh.” He breathed a sigh of relief at his words. His father placed a hand on his back and led him to the seats against the wall. Harry sat down as his father did the same beside him, body turned to face him.

“What you know of magic Haris, you must unlearn.” His father started slowly. Harry reckoned he might have looked confused when his father smiled at him ruefully.

“This should have been one of the earliest lessons we could have taught you had you not been taken from us.” Harry laid a hand on his father’s hand when he heard his father’s choked voice. Severus covered his son’s hand with one of his own, gripping it tight.

“What happened that night, Father?”

Severus looked down sadly. “I had just given birth to you that night. You were a tiny little thing, barely cried when you came out. Your dad was the one who helped me give birth as we were too paranoid to even have a mediwitch help us out.” Severus took a deep breath before continuing. “We were just settling in for the night, I was feeding you and your dad was cleaning up the room when suddenly the wards around our safehouse went haywire. We couldn’t understand how anyone could have found us. We told no one about our whereabouts. We wanted to keep you safe as we were in the middle of a war. We couldn’t risk you. So, we lay low and kept to ourselves. We thought we had taken everything into account. But we were wrong. We had set up everything to thwart magic from us, were basically unplottable. But we missed one important soldier amongst Dumbledore’s people. Someone who could bypass magic, immune to most magic. Someone that could _sniff_ us out.”

Harry inhaled sharply. “Remus.”

Severus sneered at the name. “Yes. The old coot had him imprint on our scents using things from our time in the school. He had him start when we were students still, had him build up the mutt’s nose so he can track us down wherever we were. He waited until I had given birth, when I was weak after childbirth and with my magic depleted as I automatically transferred some to you when you were born.”

A haunted look washed over his father’s face as he narrated the next part.

“The wards broke and in came the headmaster with the were by his side, practically gloating that he had found us. Your father, who was weakened by having no sleep for almost twenty-four hours during my labor, tried his hardest to ward them off. Two to one wasn’t a fair fight and he went down, but not before erecting a shield around us.” Tears formed at the corner of his eyes, matched by his father as he recalled the way his husband lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious and magically exhausted.

“Even as he went down your dad still put us first.”

Harry let the tears flow freely, for the first time hearing how hard his parents fought to keep him- fought for him.

“Albus ordered me to hand you over. I refused of course and that actually pissed him off. What? He thought he could just order me to hand you over and I’ll just do it? So, he ordered Lupin to take your dad away, to commence with the next step to their plans, and the old mutt just up and grabbed Sirius by his ankle and dragged him out. Not even sparing the energy to cast a levitating charm. I panicked as soon as he was out of my sight and half delirious as I was with exhaustion, Albus managed to tear through my shields. That’s when you woke up, shrilly crying. It was as if even as a newborn you had sensed that something was wrong.”

Severus took in a ragged breath, but continued on even with a pained look on his face.

“He _Imperio’ed_ me to give you up to him. And I-“ he gasped out, sobs escaping his lips.

“Yo-you don’t have to continue papa. It’s okay. I don’t want to see you cry!” Harry cried out, unconsciously reverting to the childlike term. He gripped his father’s trembling hands tighter.

Severus shook his head. “N-no. Y-you deserve to know. I want you to know that I would never willingly give you up. Never. But I was weak that night and he caught us off guard. I couldn’t do anything. I tried to fight it off but I knew it was futile even then, especially when I crossed over your dad’s shield. He immediately snatched you out of my hands, his eyes glinting maliciously as he stared down at you. He shot a spell at me, a spell I had no knowledge about. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was his back growing smaller and smaller, and your cries going fainter. The next time I woke up, I was in the Hospital wing, recovering from a ‘recon’ mission against the dark lord, with news of the newly orphaned Potter boy defeating the dark lord as a wee baby. By then Albus had managed to weave new memories into me and I didn’t know any better.”

Severus turned towards him.

“Will you forgive me, Haris? For handing you over to that man?” he asked brokenly.

And dear Harry couldn’t stand to look into those tear-stained face of his father any longer. He brought his father into a hug, clutching him as if his life depended on it.

“There’s nothing to forgive, Papa. It wasn’t your fault. You did everything you could for me. Knowing you love me is enough for me.” He murmured softly into Severus’s neck.

Severus let out a sob before hugging him back just as tightly. “Thank you, my Haris. Thank you.”

The hug went on for a while before both males pulled away. They both took one look at their swollen eyes and puffy faces and burst out laughing. They wiped the tears away and smiled.

“Now. Where was I? Oh, right. What you know about Dark and Light isn’t strictly black and white.”

Harry smiled as his father automatically slipped into teacher mode.

“It was coined since the time of Merlin as a way to define one’s core. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that having a dark core means you’re evil or vice versa. It’s just a way to let you know what kind of magic you are more attuned to. Merlin himself had a more greyish core, meaning he had affinities in both dark and light magic. The perfect balance, for the light cannot exist without the dark and the dark cannot exist without the light. It was simply that. It was a few years later that muggles started to persecute those with magic, calling them dark and burning them at the stake. That started the division between what you know now as the Dark and the Light. Further down the line, some wizards and witches started to hunt down muggles, as revenge for the Witch hunt. Of course, not all with magic joined them, and during the war, with all the hate, anger add in the fact that the spells they casted were powered with these emotions, slowly but surely their cores were corrupted, slowly eating away at them, both those with dark and light cores. By the end of it, those who participated in the war, ended up as shells of their former selves, with their magic rotting themselves from the inside out. The younger generation found their bodies and found all their cores to be-”

“Dark.” Harry cut in, understanding in his eyes.

Severus nodded. “Correct, and by then those with Dark cores were called evil. The rise of Grindelwald didn’t help with the misinformation at all. The only reason this knowledge even survived is because the Purebloods sought to educate their children about knowing their cores. But with the way Pureblood education and traditions are swept under the rug to make way for muggleborns, this information is threatened to be lost forever.”

“It’s the reason why Tom fought so hard to push for pre-Hogwarts education; why he fought to inform the newer generations the truth between dark and light.” A voice added from the entrance.

The two males jumped before turning towards the voice.

“Dad!”

Sirius smiled before joining the duo, ruffling Harry’s head as he passed and giving Severus a loving kiss on the cheek.

“That’s the real reason the ‘Dark Lord’ is so against Albus. Since the old coot is the one headlining the war against the ‘Dark side’.” Sirius rolled his eyes.

Harry giggled at his expression.

“So, does that mean I can practice and learn whatever spells I’ve read about?” he asked excitedly.

Both his parents nodded their consent.

“Brilliant!” he beamed before jumping to his feet. “I need to go to the library.” He said in a rush, giving both Sirius and Severus a hug before running out the training room.

The two elder males trailed fond eyes at their son before Sirius turned to his husband. “Does this mean we need to strengthen the wards around the Training rooms?” he whined.

Severus only chuckled before pecking Sirius’s lips. Content with the knowledge that his son would not be powerless against his enemies.

The Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest all raised their heads towards the direction of the castle. Eyes twinkling underneath the moon’s beams. They shivered from the pure evil magic coming off in waves from Hogwarts. Evil magic they have not felt for a long time.

As one, the Centaur herd headed deeper into the forest, as they felt the real Dark Lord arise from within the castle walls. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first ever story here in AO3. I had this plot bunny running around in my head these past few weeks that I had to get it out of my system. I don't have a set update schedule, but for now it's a chapter per week. Unless something comes up which is either I update twice a week or update every other week.  
> Hope you guys enjoy! Let me know what guys think in the comment section below! See you next update!


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